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The Town of Cary is usually known for its unstoppable growth, but now town leaders are struggling with too little growth.
For the first time in recent memory, town leaders cancelled a planning and zoning meeting because there was nothing on the agenda.
"Generally everybody knows, it's slower," Planning Director Jeff Ulma said.
The recession is about to hit the Town of Cary like a load of bricks.
"Declining communities and those that can't grow, history shows that they don't fare very well," Ulma said.
Growth in Cary has slowed so significantly, Ulma said his staff has had to cancel meetings.
"There have been other months, where there's been one or two agenda items," Ulma said, "But in our recent memory, this is the only one that we've cancelled."
The lack of development is sending the town's revenues down the drain.
The fewer new homes and developments there are in Cary, the less money the town is taking in through taxes and fees.
"With development the way that it is now and given that we've lost millions and millions of dollars because of the recession, we simply can't afford to pay for everything we'd like to do," Town Spokeswoman Susan Moran said.
It's leading to some tough choices for town leaders.
They'll either have to raise property taxes on existing homes or cut some of the foundational programs in Cary.
Town council members have already begun work sessions to rate the town's priorities.
"We are working hard to try to find a way to minimize the impact to our citizens, but it's tough," Moran said. "With development as low as it is right now in Cary, it's going to stay tough for a while."
Town leaders expect the growth rate to be around 1.9 percent this year.
That's almost a 3 percentage point drop from its five year annual growth rate.
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Comments
By Cary resident on 10/25 04:09 PM
I'm new to Cary and I'm really hoping the building (of at least new homes) slows down. It can't go on forever, right? I'm from New England where it's so over-built and crowded that it has been miserable for the past 20 years, particularly the past 10. They have just way overdone it (which is probably why so many of us have relocated here). Cary is a wonderful town and I truly hope the development slows, but that the town will find other ways to sustain its economy. I'm sure there are alternate ways other than ripping up more trees.
By Cary Resident on 10/23 06:59 AM
Isn't this what we voted for? Isn't this why Mr. Weinbrecht was elected Mayor? The people of Cary spoke in that election and decided we did not want the kind of rampant growth that was occurring in Cary. Can the Town Council really be surprised by the slowing growth when the newly elected Mayor ran on a platform of slowing the growth? I agree with Mr. Miller, there are bound to be cost cutting measures that can be done but I am concerned that the Town Council seems surprised by this.
By Henry Miller on 10/22 09:13 AM
"They'll either have to raise property taxes on existing homes or cut some of the foundational programs in Cary." Raising taxes is a last resort, after everything possible is done to trim expenses. For example (from the 2010 budget), it seems unlikely Cary really needs to spend $500k to buy more park land or $300k for "WakeMed Soccer Park Improvements." If Cary isn't growing as fast as predicted, why are they spending $2,6 million extending Harrison Avenue? And what's the $2 million for "Street Improvement Project?" Maybe that could be deferred. There's about $7 million for extending the water system--if Cary isn't growing, why are they extending the water system? There seems to be a a fair amount of cost-cutting that could be done before even considering raising taxes.
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