SHREVEPORT, La. - When a Fortune 500 company tried to drop a new gas station next to a Shreveport church, a school, and dozens of family homes -- the neighborhood fought back. And won.

Arkansas-based fuel giant, Murphy USA promised jobs and tax revenue if allowed to rezone six parcels of land along Kings Highway. Parents warned of traffic, crime, and kids walking past beer sales on the way to class. The city had to pick a side... but not without a fight from Murphy USA developer Matt Peterson. During Shreveport's Metropolitan Planning Commission, Peterson pitched the project as a modern upgrade that would “bring hundreds of thousands of tax dollars” and revitalize a corridor already lined with McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Raising Cane’s, and a dialysis center.

“Murphy wants to be a part

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