Pilgrim’s Pride has made an offer to purchase 88 acres of land in Gadsden, Alabama, for a potential chicken rendering plant. However, Pilgrim’s is not the only party interested in purchasing that land.
On June 16, Pilgrim’s sent a letter to the Gadsden Airport Authority, offering to either purchase the land at the airport industrial park. The offer, according to reports from WBRC, was to either acquire the land for $1,100,000 or enter a 30-year lease for $55,000 a year.
Six days later, another offer for the land was made by a group known as Advance Etowah. Gadsden is in Etowah County. Attorney Christie Knowles sent that offer to the authority on behalf of business leaders. That group offered to purchase the same parcel of land for $1,200,000 or enter a 30-year lease for $60,000, WBRC also reported.
The idea of a rendering plant on the land has drawn opposition from area residents, including Martha Palazzolo, who told the authority she and others “are concerned that the airport will be endangered by this plant.”
There have also been concerns about the zoning of the land. Some residents who attended the authority’s meeting on June 29 said that land is only zoned for light industries, and that Pilgrim’s Pride does not meet those specifications. Pilgrim’s has sought assistance from the authority and the City of Gadsden on rezoning the land, but a lawsuit has been filed to prevent the rezoning from happening. The authority, during that same meeting, held an executive session to interview attorneys to represent it in those legal proceedings.
Pilgrim’s Pride is the second largest poultry company in the United States, with operations also in Mexico and in Europe. According to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, the company, operates 25 slaughter plants, 32 hatcheries and 25 feed mills. Pilgrim’s Pride is headquartered in Greeley, Colorado.
