The Wake County Board of Commissioners on Monday received a report on strategies for growth management designed to preserve quality of life in the County while protecting the autonomy of individual jurisdictions.
The report was generated by the Wake County Growth Management Task Force, a group created in 2000 at the initiative of the Board of Commissioners and tasked with developing a countywide consensus for growth management. It represents a historic collaboration of elected officials from the County, plus all 12 municipalities and the Board of Education.
Commissioners received the report, directed staff to prepare an implementation plan, and decided to hold three regional meetings to receive additional community input on the report.
The Task Force's report concluded a 30-month process, where it routinely heard stakeholder input at meetings before deciding growth objectives and recommendations. Recognizing that solutions in one community might not work in another, the Task Force agreed to recommend broad strategies to local governments and then let each local governing board decide what implementation options and processes will work best in its community. Each board will be free to choose from the strategy those ideas it deems best for its citizens.
County Commissioners' Chairman Herb Council praised the work of the Task Force and said the group's long hours of work and efforts to reach consensus on growth issues were evident.
"It's no small feat to get agreement among a group as diverse as the municipalities in Wake County," Council said. "I am pleased at the willingness of the Task Force to work together toward establishing common objectives as they relate to growth."
Between September 2000 and June 2001, the Task Force narrowed its objectives to the following six issues:
The Board directed County staff to work with stakeholders, the Wake County Planning Board and the Commissioners' Growth, Land Use and Environment Committee to develop and recommend implementation measures. These recommendations will be brought back to the Board for consideration at future meetings.
For more information, contact Planning Director Melanie Wilson, 856-6315.