Wake County commissioners approved the Neuse North Area Plan for unincorporated land around Wake Forest and Rolesville, moving 580 farm acres to Rural and 250 acres to Community.

Wake County has a new growth plan for the unincorporated land that wraps around Wake Forest and Rolesville, and it keeps a block of working farms rural.

The Wake County Board of Commissioners approved the Neuse North Area Plan, the county said Tuesday. The vote changes two areas on the county’s long-range growth map:

Area Size Change
South of Mitchell Mill Road, between Watkins Road and Peebles Road about 580 acres Community to Rural
South of the Franklin County line, east of Gilcrest Farm Road and north of Oak Grove Church Road about 250 acres Rural to Community

“Agriculture is an important part of the Neuse North community,” Commissioner Vickie Adamson said in the county’s release.

Where Neuse North is

The plan covers about 10,890 acres, or 17 square miles, of land outside any town’s limits or planning jurisdiction. Only the county regulates it. According to the final plan document, it is bordered by:

  • Wake Forest, Rolesville and the Franklin County line to the north
  • Raleigh to the west
  • Knightdale, about 12 miles from Wake Forest, to the south
  • the Little River watershed to the east

Decades of annexation have split the area into 20 separate pieces. The smallest is 0.9 acres.

It is a settled place, not a growth area. County staff estimate 3,082 homes and about 7,681 people there in 2025. That is 166 more homes and 81 more people than in 2015, the plan said. Most subdivisions were built more than 20 years ago.

Why 580 acres went back to Rural

Most of Neuse North carries the county’s Community label. That marks land where a town is expected to extend water and sewer and grow into, usually within five to 10 years.

County planners found that did not fit the 580 acres near Mitchell Mill Road. Several large parcels there are in the state’s present-use value program for farms. Their owners told the county they want to keep farming for the foreseeable future, the plan said. Town staff also told the county that water and sewer lines are unlikely to reach the area, so annexation is less likely too.

Across the whole plan area, 71 parcels covering about 2,500 acres are classified as farm, forestry or horticulture land, the plan said.

The plan does not set out a separate reason for moving the 250 northern acres to Community.

What the plan does not do

The plan is guidance. The county’s Neuse North page said it does not:

  • annex or rezone any property
  • expand any town’s extraterritorial jurisdiction
  • raise taxes

A state law, House Bill 173, freezes any expansion of town planning jurisdictions in Wake County through 2028, the page said. Annexation needs both the owner’s request and the town’s agreement.

Trails that would reach Wake Forest

The plan maps 26 possible greenway and trail links across the area. Those that touch Wake Forest include:

  • Burlington Mills Road, from Smith Creek to South Main Street
  • Sanford Creek, from Smith Creek to South Main Street
  • Oak Grove Church Road, from Traditions Grande Boulevard to N.C. 96
  • Ligon Mill Road, from Old Ligon Mill Road to Smith Creek

These are lines on a planning map. The plan does not fund or schedule them.

What it means for you

If you live in unincorporated Wake County between Wake Forest, Rolesville and Knightdale, this plan now guides what the county will support near you. If your well or septic system fails, the Community label means town water and sewer may be an option through annexation, the plan said. The Rural label signals that is unlikely.

Nothing changes inside Wake Forest’s town limits. The town’s own rules are being rewritten separately: read our story on the draft Unified Development Ordinance.

The plan’s next steps include a study of older, lower-cost homes in the area and updates to regional transportation plans. County staff recommend revisiting the plan every five years. Questions go to Wake County planning at areaplan@wake.gov or 919-856-6310.

Neuse North is the sixth of seven area plans under PLANWake, the county’s comprehensive plan.