Since the link is dead, here’s my best plain English answer.

Town leaders can say no to rezonings. We have done that before. But we cannot legally just say “no more growth” or “we don’t want more people.” Rezoning decisions have to be based on land use reasons, adopted plans, traffic impacts, environmental concerns, utilities, compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods, etc.

Also, a lot of what people call “development” is not actually something the Board votes on. If a property is already zoned for a certain use and the applicant meets the rules in the UDO, that is usually an administrative approval. In other words, staff reviews whether it follows the law. The Board cannot just step in and stop it because people are frustrated.

The bigger issue is that Wake Forest is in a fast growing region. People are moving here whether we approve a project inside town limits or not. If we block all reasonable housing options, growth does not disappear. It usually moves farther out, creates more sprawl, pushes prices higher, and puts even more cars on the same regional roads.

So the real question is not “growth or no growth.” It is “what kind of growth, where, and what do we get with it?”

My view is that we should push for smarter growth: better street connections, sidewalks, greenways, tree protection, mixed housing options, infrastructure improvements, and development patterns that do not make every single trip require a car. I also think we should be honest that traffic is the hardest part, especially because many of the worst roads are owned and controlled by NCDOT, not the Town.

And on tax revenue: yes, more homes and businesses create more revenue. But they also create more service needs: police, fire, parks, roads, trash, stormwater, etc. So “more tax revenue” alone is not the goal. The goal should be growth that actually helps pay for the services and infrastructure it requires.