Haywood County TN Zoning: Buying Near BlueOval City

Haywood County's zoning story is no longer a generic rural-county question -- a roughly 4,100-acre state megasite in the county's southwest corner now hosts Ford's multibillion-dollar BlueOval City complex, and that single project has reshaped industrial zoning, infrastructure planning, and land-value expectations across a meaningful stretch of the county. Here's what's actually confirmed, what changed in late 2025, and what it means for land near the site.

This page covers what's specific to Haywood County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

The Memphis Regional Megasite and BlueOval City, in real numbers

The Memphis Regional Megasite is a roughly 4,100-acre, state-assembled industrial site in southwestern Haywood County, about 15 minutes from Brownsville off Interstate 40, backed by more than $100 million in Tennessee state infrastructure investment before any tenant arrived. In September 2021, Ford Motor Company and its battery joint venture with SK Innovation (BlueOvalSK) announced a $5.6 billion investment to build "BlueOval City" on roughly 3,600 acres of the site -- land that was previously working farmland -- about 2.5 miles south of the small community of Stanton. At announcement, the project was projected to create 5,800 direct jobs, with wider direct-plus-indirect estimates running as high as roughly 27,000 jobs and an estimated 30,000 temporary construction jobs during the build-out. This is not a speculative or early-stage project -- it is one of the largest single economic-development investments in Tennessee history, and it sits entirely inside Haywood County's boundaries.

For zoning purposes, the megasite itself is governed differently from the rest of the county: Haywood County's zoning resolution (originally adopted in October 1993) incorporates the Megasite Authority of West Tennessee's own Industrial District regulations -- I-1 and I-2 -- by reference for the site, rather than applying the county's standard rural or agricultural district rules there. That distinction matters if you're evaluating land adjacent to, rather than inside, the megasite boundary: adjacent parcels remain under the county's regular zoning resolution, but they sit next to land held to industrial-district standards, and buffer, screening, or nuisance considerations (noise, lighting, truck traffic) that wouldn't come up on an ordinary rural parcel are worth asking the Haywood County Regional Planning Commission about directly for any tract near the megasite's perimeter.

What changed in late 2025 -- and why it matters for land buyers

The project's scope has shifted meaningfully since 2021, and a buyer evaluating land near the site today should know the current state, not the 2021 announcement. In December 2025, Ford confirmed it is scrapping its plans to build a next-generation electric pickup at the site -- the facility, originally branded the "Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center," is being renamed the "Tennessee Truck Plant" and will instead produce gas-powered and hybrid trucks, with manufacturing now targeted to begin in 2029. That's a real change from the project's original all-electric framing and its earlier 2025, then 2027, production timelines. Separately, the next-generation F-150 Lightning -- once planned for BlueOval City -- will instead be built in Dearborn, Michigan as an extended-range hybrid rather than a pure EV. None of this cancels the project or the underlying investment, but it does mean the pace and shape of hiring, supplier build-out, and associated housing/commercial demand around the site has slowed and shifted from what was assumed as recently as 2024.

Infrastructure capacity is the other live issue directly relevant to land buyers. The state has committed roughly $52 million to address wastewater and sewer capacity constraints tied to the Megasite, and 2025 reporting describes the state pausing funding to build out the Megasite's remaining, not-yet-committed acreage (beyond BlueOval City's own footprint) while it works to identify an additional tenant -- with area "livability" and workforce-training capacity cited as open concerns. For land near, but outside, the megasite boundary, that translates into a very practical question: don't assume municipal water, sewer, or expanded road capacity will simply follow the megasite outward on any particular timeline. Confirm current utility-extension plans and capacity directly with Haywood County and the City of Brownsville rather than assuming BlueOval City's presence guarantees nearby infrastructure upgrades on a predictable schedule.

Practical due diligence for land near the megasite

If your interest in Haywood County land is driven specifically by proximity to BlueOval City -- as a housing play, a commercial or supplier-support site, or simply because the area is changing -- treat the megasite's own boundary as a hard line for zoning purposes and confirm your parcel's actual zoning district and permitted uses with the Haywood County Regional Planning Commission rather than assuming industrial-adjacent land carries any special commercial entitlement of its own. General Haywood County land-market figures (a reported median price of roughly $14,233 per acre and an average listing size around 216 acres, per commercial land-market aggregator data) reflect the county's broader agricultural land market, not megasite-specific pricing, and shouldn't be read as a reliable guide to value for a parcel actually adjacent to the site -- get a current, local appraisal instead.

Beyond the megasite question, the rest of Haywood County's zoning and septic framework works the same way described on the county hub: septic permitting runs through Tennessee's statewide TDEC Rule 0400-48-01, administered for Haywood County through TDEC's Jackson Environmental Field Office (1625 Hollywood Drive, Jackson, TN 38305; (731) 512-1300) rather than a county health department. For any parcel near the Hatchie River or its bottomland corridor -- including land near the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge, which spans roughly 11,556 acres across southern Haywood and central Hardeman counties -- get a direct, current FEMA flood-zone check rather than relying on a neighboring parcel's history, since the Hatchie's unchannelized course behaves less predictably than a straightened river.

Zoning Near the Memphis Regional Megasite, Haywood County, Tennessee

The Memphis Regional Megasite and BlueOval City, in real numbers

What changed in late 2025 -- and why it matters for land buyers

Practical due diligence for land near the megasite

Ready to talk to someone who knows land?