OXFORD — For over four hours Monday, a standing-room-only crowd of residents watched as opponents and proponents of a planned asphalt plant pleaded their cases at a Lafayette County Board of Supervisors meeting. 

After the hearing, the board unanimously voted to table a decision on rezoning a property in the town of Taylor from agricultural to heavy industrial use to allow development of the plant. 

“We feel like that we need more time,” said Supervisor John Morgan, citing new information presented by both sides and a need for additional time for written statements to be submitted.

“You’re determining the fate of our regenerative farm operation and our livelihood,” said Ley Falkner, whose family lives on and runs Falkner Farms across from the proposed plant. 

The Falkner family, their representatives and the bevy of supporters argued that the plant poses a significant environmental and health risk to residents and is anathema to the county’s existing zoning plan. 

J.W. McCurdy, the plant developer and owner of the proposed site, and other proponents made the case that there’s a need for a new asphalt plant to accommodate Oxford’s growth. They said it would create jobs and economic development and tried to assure the board that there is minimal environmental risk.

One of the central questions around the rezoning is whether Taylor and Lafayette County have changed enough to justify rezoning. Both sides presented letters from experts ranging from city planners to university professors about the risks and benefits of the proposed plant.

“I am respectfully asking you to consider the agricultural impact the zoning change could have, not only with respect to the land, but also to local food production,” wrote Andy Gipson, state agriculture commissioner and gubernatorial candidate, in a letter to the board.

Emotions ran high in the packed meeting room, with most of the public’s comments being against the plant. One woman was escorted out of the building by a member of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department.

“That’s unfair, you gave (McCurdy) 40 minutes,” Elizabeth Falkner of Falkner Farms said in response to her being cut off after five minutes while addressing the board. The crowd applauded.