Wake County seeks input on growth plan for Neuse North area

Wake County made its draft Neuse North area plan and future land-use maps available for public review and comment at a community meeting June 24. The plan covers a 10,890-acre stretch between Wake Forest and Rolesville that reaches to the Franklin County line and is home to about 8,000 residents.

The Neuse North work is the sixth of seven distinct planning areas under PLANWake, the county’s comprehensive plan adopted in April 2021. The broader framework is meant to guide growth over the next 10 years, with area plans replacing older guidance over time through new public engagement and updated plans.

Wake County has more than 1.2 million residents and is growing by about 66 people a day, with migration accounting for three out of every four new residents since 2020. CBS 17 puts that pace at a little more than 60 people a day, or roughly 250,000 new residents over the next decade.

Planners are looking closely at unincorporated land in eastern Wake rather than waiting for towns to absorb growth on their own. County planner Akul Nishawala called the challenge balancing what is already there with the need to make room for more people, while residents such as Denise McGivern came for the rural feel and worry that roads are already too narrow for the traffic the area is carrying.

The June 24 discussion centered on land use, agriculture and water quality, along with results from public engagement already collected. The draft plan and future land-use maps show where subdivisions, preserved farmland and other types of development could go near existing neighborhoods, and how much road and utility infrastructure would be needed to support them.

The work runs alongside Wake County’s unified development ordinance revision process, which is underway with stakeholder input.