MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 1:40 pm


The future of Bible Park USA is in question after the Wilson County Commission failed to approve a proposal for Tax Increment Financing at its Monday night meeting.

Wilson County Mayor Robert Dedman said the vote failed to get the required two-thirds majority with the absence of two commissioners Monday night.

“If they would have been there, it would have passed the way it did last month,” Dedman said. Because the vote involves taxes, the proposal has to pass two consecutive meetings with a two-thirds majority and the 16-7 vote didn’t meet the threshold, he added.

The proposal, which passed on first reading in November, would allow the park to repay $60 million in bonds with incremental increases in property taxes and a 5 percent privileged tax on sales in the park.

“I’m frankly surprised the city would vote this way since I’ve seen a lot of support in the community for it,” project developer Robert Wyatt told the Nashville Post. “Potentially this project has a huge amount of capability for bringing lots of jobs and lots of business to Lebanon in this economic time.”

But not all Wilson County Commissioners were convinced. Dedman said today’s economic conditions have much to do with the park’s eroding support.

“We had a lot of support for it but some commissioners didn’t vote for it because they didn’t want the county to be responsible for any debt,” Dedman said.

BPU Holdings can bring the proposal back for a vote in January but it would have to pass again in February to be approved.

Wyatt said the company might consider bringing it up again next month or pursue other sites.

Bible Park USA has been relocated previously after Rutherford County’s Board of Commissioners rejected the park’s TIF plans in May.

Approval required a two-thirds majority vote after a valid petition from surrounding landowners was submitted to the Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission. The vote fell two votes short of the 14 needed with 12 voting in favor and nine voting against.

Following the rejection from Rutherford County, BPU Holdings announced in September the intention to locate the $175 million-200 million, Biblically themed park on 113 acres off Tater Peeler Road in Lebanon.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.