A plan by one of the largest liquor companies in the United States to purchase a 55-acre piece of land just outside of the Murfreesboro city limits, where it aims to construct a distillery, visitors center and multiple warehouses, has recently caused the surrounding community members to wonder how city officials can allow a large manufacturing operation to open adjacent to their residential neighborhood.

Sazerac, which owns dozens of liquor brands including Fireball, Southern Comfort, Buffalo Trace, Skol, Taaka, Margaritaville, Montezuma, Popcorn Sutton, Kentucky Tavern and many others, unveiled plans in late 2017 to acquire a piece of property bordering the northwest edge of Murfreesboro, just off of Florence and Asbury Roads near the I-24 and 840 interchange. Here, according to company representatives, Sazerac would like to construct a whiskey distillery and tourist destination complete with a bottling and processing building, grain silos, a VIP meeting building, a charcoal pavilion and four barrel warehouses, each capable of storing 20,000 barrels of hard liquor and up to 66 feet in height.

Prior to the construction of this liquor-land plant and attraction, the City of Murfreesboro would have to first annex the piece of property in question, currently owned by Joseph Smith and Ricky Smith, and also zone it to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow mass production on the land.

Christy Andrews lives on Honeybee Drive, just to the south of the proposed distillery. Andrews says she does not find a residentially zoned neighborhood to be the most suitable site for a massive whiskey production facility.

Rendering of proposed Sazerac Murfreesboro operation

“The primary purpose of zoning is to segregate uses to prevent new development from interfering with existing uses and/or to preserve the character of a community,” Andrews told the Murfreesboro Planning Commission during a Jan. 17 public hearing on the matter. “I don’t see how in any way a zoned residential neighborhood would be considered compatible with an industrial or manufacturing business such as a distillery.

“There is an abundance of available land in Murfreesboro already zoned and suitable for this type of plan,” Andrews continued.

Taylor Berry, one of many other area residents somehow opposed to the idea of major production and distribution operations in the middle of a subdivision, also encouraged the Murfreesboro Planning Commission to vote to not recommend the property be rezoned.

“We have no problem with a distillery in Murfreesboro, I’m sure it would be great for the economy,” Berry said. “But please, put it somewhere else.”

Initially, employees, vendors and visitors to the distillery would use Asbury Road to access the distillery. But, incidentally, Murfreesboro’s 2040 Major Transportation Plan already includes plans for a major five-lane road just to the north of the proposed distillery site, which would most likely connect to a new I-24 exit in between 840 and Almaville Road.

As part of its proposal, Sazerac is “committing to enter into a public/private partnership with the city, to accelerate the construction of a five-lane roadway connection that is to the northwest,” said Matt Taylor, professional engineer and vice president of Murfreesboro-based Site Engineering Consultants, on behalf of his client, Sazerac.

“We would prefer for that to happen sooner rather than later, and I think that is the city’s intention as well,” he said.

City Environmental Engineer Sam Huddleston says that portion of the city needs this new five-lane road project, referred to in the 2040 plan as the Cherry Lane Extension, a phrase he uses to describe that unique area of town.

“It’s close to everything, yet it’s close to nothing. What I mean by that, (is) you have 840 in your back door, you have I-24 in your back door, but you really can’t get access to them. If you’re trying to get over to Broad Street, occasionally you get caught by the train,” Huddleston said.

As the neighborhood grows, Florence Road and Old Nashville Highway have limited capabilities, and the area needs the new roadway, as well as an new interstate connection, Huddleston said.

He points out that just because a road project is on the 2040 plan, doesn’t mean that it will take until 2040 to complete.

“We’re pursuing those [projects] now,” he said. “Occasionally we create a great opportunity for a public/private partnership . . . the public/private partnership has been a strong part of our road-building history.”

Rendering of Sazerac’s Glenmore Distribution Center in Owensboro, Kentucky

Sazerac’s Glenmore Distribution Center in Owensboro, Kentucky

Sazerac has offered to contribute financially to that project, and Huddleston says it is his goal to present to the City Council a joint funding plan involving both the City of Murfreesboro and Sazerac to make that new roadway project possible.

“The interchange is really a game-changer for that property, and for the surrounding community,” Huddleston said.

While the City of Murfreesboro has the authority to authorize and construct the Cherry Lane extension, the new I-24 interchange is a different matter, and would require state and federal approval, which could take up to 10 years.

However, Taylor said the permanent Sazerac entrance on the north of the property is only linked only to the Cherry Lane extension project, not necessarily the new I-24 interchange.

In the meantime, prior to a new road and interchange, Asbury Road would provide access to the Sazerac property. Community members have expressed concern that the two-lane road would not be ideal for semi trucks coming to and from the distillery.

“Now, there’s no traffic on it. It is a bad road. There’s potholes all on it; I have to weave back and forth to avoid the holes. It’s not very well paved,” said Richard Davis, who lives in the area. “Houses are 10 feet away from the road.”

Taylor estimates that at maximum capacity, Sazerac would see 12 trucks a day; most likely the truck traffic would be limited to four to six trucks a day, he said.

“Our use is going to generate significantly less traffic than a residential neighborhood,” he said.

Huddleston said he believes that Asbury Road could accommodate construction traffic, and does not “envision any significant improvements to Asbury Road.”

“The farm and billboard use on Asbury Road does sometimes require heavy equipment,” Huddleston said. The potential new quick access to I-24, close proximity to the major tourist hub of Nashville and the presence of a natural water source on the land make this piece of property very attractive to the whiskey manufacturer, Taylor said.

“The lake is a huge asset in this project,” he said.

Murfreesboro Planning Director Gary Whitaker said that without the new portion of Cherry Lane providing access to the Sazerac property, its current proposed site may not be the most ideal location for it.

“Without the extension of Cherry Lane, there’s no doubt, it’s residential property. With the interchange, with a five-lane road, that property is not really set up for residential use. It’s set up for more of a commercial use,” he said.

Nevertheless, those who stand to feel the impact of a distillery bordering their backyards say they do not believe Sazerac would make an appropriate neighbor in their residential neighborhood.

Heather Cadenhead, a mother and a Honeybee Drive homeowner, called the deal an instance of “crony capitalism that would devastate a community.”

“I never would have purchased a home in Thistle Downs had I known that residential zoning ordinances I thought would protect my family could in fact be sold to the highest corporate bidder,” she said.

Her family bought its home on Honeybee Drive partially to get away from mold in their former residence, she said. Now, though, she has concerns about mold resulting from the production of whiskey.

Another neighborhood resident, Patrick Banker, brought up baudoinia, a.k.a. whiskey fungus, a black mold that can cover signs, buildings and cars nearby distilleries, as seen in some Kentucky neighborhoods in close proximity to whiskey production operations.

Other neighbors pointed out that numerous major auto dealerships sit only about a mile away from the proposed Sazerac distillery site, and that they would hate for their hundreds of brand-new, pristine automobiles to become covered with the black mold.

Dr. Anne Pringle, a professor of botany and bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin, told the concerned neighbors that she does not believe that baudoinia poses a health risk to them, or anyone. “There’s no evidence that a distillery harms your health,” she said.

Pringle also points out that black fungi currently grows noticeably on some existing signs in the Asbury Road neighborhood.

“I don’t think that there will be any more black mold in your neighborhood after this distillery is built, if it is built, than there already is,” she said.

Not every owner of property bordering the proposed Sazerac site opposes the distillery plan.

The Dismukes family owns the piece of property with the longest border, with the lot in question located to the west of it.

Rendering of Sazerac’s Buffalo Trace Distillery Warehouse Facility in Frankfort, Kentucky

Bo Dismukes said he would rather have Sazerac’s distillery next to his family farm than another subdivision, and said their plan would offer a buffer between his land and the densely populated subdivisions.

But the stream of other residents opposed to the plan continued at the January public hearing.

“I look at this commission, and your job is to protect the citizens through proper planning, through proper growth,” said Nathan Peterson. “Your job is to approve plans that would enhance the property values of the residents, not run the risk of degrading those values.”

Taylor emphasized that the entire 55 acres his client seeks to acquire and develop will not be packed full of  industry, and that “large expanses of open space” will remain, as he described a “very serene campus.”

“We intend to keep a large portion of the vegetation and trees on the property,” he said. “We’re impacting about 30 percent of the property.”

He also said that this Sazerac facility would not attempt to equal the volume of Tennessee whiskey makers Jack Daniel’s or George Dickel.

The Murfreesboro Planning Commission unanimously recommended that the property be annexed and rezoned.

The Sazerac distillery proposal will now go before the Murfreesboro City Council for a final public hearing and vote. This will begin at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 12, at Murfreesboro City Hall, 111 W. Vine St.

Learn more about Sazerac at sazerac.com. Find a page that property owners near the distillery set up to oppose the plans at facebook.com/fightagainstdistillery. Learn more about Murfreesboro’s 2040 Major Transportation Plan at murfreesborotn.gov.