Church International, the fast-growing congregation that’s spent $6 million buying up properties in Warrior, won’t get to carry out plans for building a sprawling public park and greenhouse.

On Thursday night, after hearing complaints from more than a dozen residents, Warrior’s planning and zoning commission rejected the church’s request to rezone more than 20 acres of land on Poplar Street, property that the church bought last year from the Jefferson County Board of Education.

One commissioner, Tommy Herbert, abstained from voting. He worked on the proposal with the contractor that the church hired to design and renovate the property. Herbert sat at the front of the room with the rest of the commission during the meeting and chimed in to answer questions about the proposal.

Another commissioner, Chuck Mosley, who lives near the site, said he took the concerns of residents who oppose the church’s plans seriously.

“I personally wouldn’t have a problem with it, but for the people that do live down below me, you do have a problem with it,” said Mosley. “We’re hearing you loud and clear.”

About 70 people packed the small meeting room at city hall in Warrior, a town of about 3,200 people north of Birmingham. At least 20 more spilled into the hallway ahead of the meeting.

Church International’s growth in Warrior in recent years is palpable, prompting many residents to question their plans for the town.

AL.com published an article on Wednesday detailing the church’s numerous purchases of property in the town, totaling $6 million spent on roughly 20 parcels of land since 2021. The Alabama Department of Revenue is investigating the church, which is led by pastor Robin R. Bullock and her husband, Robin D. Bullock, who calls himself a prophet.

The Bullocks did not attend Thursday night’s meeting. Instead, Ron Williams, the church’s contractor, presented their plans for the park and its rezoning request to change the land’s zoning from “institutional” to “agricultural.”

The meeting began with Brooks Baker, the chairman of the zoning commission, praying for peace.

Several residents told the commission that Church International did not get input from the neighborhood, which historically is predominantly Black and home today to many elderly people.

“It don’t make no sense to just take a community and do what y’all want,” said the first man who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.

“Let me just ask you to not criticize the council,” Baker said to him in response. “Now go ahead and move on and sit down.” Baker later apologized to the man.

During the meeting, Warrior Mayor Johnny Ragland and members of the city council sat at the back of the room. Aerial shots of the church’s Poplar Street land and the proposed renovations for the project, called “The Farm,” hung on the walls of the cramped room at Warrior City Hall.

Some residents also voiced concerns about traffic and questioned whether the town would benefit financially from the park.

The church’s park proposal included parking, stone and wrought iron fencing, walking trails and benches, monuments about the history of Warrior, and a “caretaker’s home” for a family, chosen by the church, to maintain the park, Williams and Herbert said during the presentation.

“It will be educational as well as beautiful and fun,” Williams said. “It’s a public benefit.”

Williams said the church wanted to build a greenhouse to grow fruits and vegetables and sell them at “wholesale prices” at a produce stand on the property. The proposal also included a lake, stocked with bass and catfish for fishing, as well as a pavilion to be used as an event venue.

“We can go fishing right there across the bridge,” said Poplar Street resident Raymond Jackson, adding that he believed the community needed other resources, such as a domestic violence shelter, counseling center, or a track or gym.

A few speakers raised questions about the state’s investigation of the church and questioned its leaders’ plans for the town.

Baker told attendees several times that the commission would not discuss issues outside of the rezoning proposal. When one woman standing at the entrance brought up questions about legal issues, the room got loud.

“You want that question answered, right?” the woman said to the crowd. Two police officers rushed over and blocked her from the meeting room.

The site of the proposed park used to be a school in Warrior. The quiet neighborhood is just a mile and a half from city hall, which sits directly in front of Church International’s main building.

Church International’s nonprofit, Youth Force Ministries Church International Inc., purchased the land from the Jefferson County Board of Education in October 2022 for $144,000, according to Jefferson County property records and meeting minutes AL.com obtained from the county’s Board of Education. The church’s nonprofit owns the following properties on Poplar Street, per property records:

• 462 Poplar St.
• 491 Poplar St.
• 492 Poplar St.
• 495 Poplar St.
• 537 Poplar St.