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Directors Greeting
This is an exciting and challenging time for the Town of Lillington. Located in heart of Harnett County, a county that went from relying on agriculture to textiles to being in the transition of a service based economy, we are now actively seeking to locate new industries and businesses to the area and assist existing ones.
Lillington is strategically located between the metropolitan areas of Fayetteville and Raleigh. We can learn from the areas immediately adjacent to these large cities. Holly Springs for example, located 30 minutes south of Raleigh, has seen a 112% population increase from 2000 to 2007, making it the 13th fastest growing municipality (out of 540) in North Carolina. Fuquay-Varina, just south of Holly Springs (20 minutes north of Lillington) is the 19th fastest growing, increasing 89%. Lillington is greatly below that percentage at having less that 24% population increase, though it is anticipated that we are next in line and we should take the opportunity to be prepared. *Data Source: NC State Demographics
In strict terms of land development, public costs of growth will include schools, public safety services, social services, health services, solid waste, and many other services necessary for the local government to provide. Growth if not well planned, can potentially lead to over - burdening the available revenue resources, so that as unrestricted development occurs, existing funding is inadequate and may cause a reduction or degradation of the level and quality of service over time.
An additional cost of development using sprawl development patterns is the loss of open space, negative impacts on active farmland, encroachment onto our natural areas, increased automobile commuting times caused by traffic congestion, the loss of character of the area and the loss of other types of physical, environmental and natural heritage assets not easily noticed when development occurs.
We all play a role in the future of this community and should realize the importance of taking a proactive stance in being good stewards of our community to maintain a high quality of life for our and future generations. The first step starts by getting involved. In the coming months the Town will be hosting several community meetings to gain input from the residents of Lillington regarding what you want the future of Lillington to be like and these initiatives will be incorporated into a Land Use Plan which will be a guide for where and how development occurs in Lillington for the next 20 years.
 I welcome your ongoing participation in this exciting process. Community meeting dates and times will be posted on the website. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to stop by my office, call, or email me anytime.
Sincerely,
Theresa Thompson
Town of Lillington Planning Director
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