Tuesday, Jul. 14, 2009

A town in the making

ARCHER LODGE — Some people here hope that by year’s end, this small, rural community will be a town.

Efforts to incorporate have been ongoing for a couple of years now. State lawmakers will decide if Archer Lodge should become a town, and then voters would have the final say, maybe in the fall.

So at this point, the question remains: What will become of Archer Lodge, a community that values its rural traditions and smaller-than-town charm?

Many residents say change is inevitable, even if Archer Lodge becomes a town in charge of its own zoning and planning.

The community’s neighbors have grown quickly, said Josh Barnes, whose grandmother, Lona, owns the C.E. Barnes’ Store, a mainstay in Archer Lodge for eight decades.

“Just picture Clayton,” Josh Barnes said. “Who would have thought 20 years ago there’s a Wal-Mart sitting in Clayton? Three grocery stores, a bypass.”

Indeed, Clayton has experienced rapid growth. Interstate 40 gave commuters easier access to Johnston County, and rooftops sprang up. The town’s population has at least doubled in the last 10 years.

When the Archer Lodge Municipal Exploratory Committee formed more than two years ago, leaders insisted their efforts to become a town didn’t stem from fears of annexation.

Being so close to Clayton and Wendell, some thought Archer Lodge could easily be gobbled up.

Instead, the community decided it wanted to control its growth, said Carlton Vinson, president of the committee.

“Land use and planning is going to be one of our biggest things,” Vinson said.

If a mayor and Town Council are in place, they can say, “Thanks but no thanks,” to big-box stores that might want to move in and take advantage of the area’s growth.

Of course, not having a Wal-Mart Supercenter in their backyard would be a plus for many Archer Lodge residents. But it could also mean that landowners wouldn’t be allowed to sell their land to commercial developers.

Across U.S. 70 to the west of Archer Lodge, some landowners in the unincorporated Cleveland community were ready to sell. The final result: one of the biggest shopping and commercial hubs in Johnston County, not to mention massive residential growth.

Josh Barnes doesn’t think Archer Lodge would become a Cleveland anytime soon, even without incorporation. But he thinks the community will see some growth — maybe a grocery store, a gas station and even some big-box stores. Now, the country store he helps his grandmother run is the only place in the community to get a gallon of gas or a pack of cigarettes.

Dwayne Johnson, 46, hangs out at Barnes’ Store most days. The research specialist for N.C. State University owns some land in Archer Lodge, and he’s happy there. But Johnson said he’s not unwilling to allow change.

Eventually, he said, he’d be willing to sell his one and a half acres of land, even to a residential developer.

“I’ll go Down East where there’s less people,” Johnson said.

Vinson said he could be tempted down the road to sell his 30 acres in Archer Lodge.

“If somebody came in tomorrow and offered me some extraordinary amount ... I’m not saying I wouldn’t,” he said.

Vinson hopes to stay here all his life. But he added: “None of us knows what tomorrow holds.”

What a town can offer

Community leaders in Archer Lodge are planning for an eight-cent tax rate per $100 valuation. That would be on top of the 7-cent fire tax that property owners in the community already pay the county.

Earlier this month, County Commissioners agreed that if Archer Lodge becomes a town, the county’s planning staff would play a part in land-use decisions for the first year, with the town’s own planning board and Town Council being phased in to make decisions.

And for the first two years after incorporation, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office would provide law-enforcement protection, as it does now, to the town.

In a letter to county leaders, Sheriff Steve Bizzell supported this idea and said that by the town’s third anniversary, it should have its own 24-hour police protection but could also request a contract with the sheriff’s office for extra help.

Another Johnston County community has recently dealt with these kinds of decisions. Wilson’s Mills reactivated its charter to become a town in 1996. Like Archer Lodge, residents of Wilson’s Mills wanted to control planning and growth, said Mayor Peter H. Wilson.

Since it became a town, Wilson’s Mills hasn’t changed much. The town has a post office near the Town Hall and fire station, and there’s a gas station on U.S. 70.

A small police department patrols the area with help from the sheriff’s office, and the town is planning to build a community center.

“We’re in need of a fresh building where people can see where their tax dollars are going to,” Wilson said.

Billie Foster Wiley, a council member for the town, said she can’t see where her tax money is going.

Wiley said she doesn’t think Wilson’s Mills should have become a town in the first place.

“We offer the town nothing,” Wiley said. “I’m paying the town taxes, and what does the town offer me? Nothing.” Wilson disagrees. He said the community’s status as a town should give residents security about the future.

“I certainly wouldn’t want a coal mine stuck in my backyard, would you?” Wilson said.

Wilson and Wiley do agree on what they want for the town — restaurants and businesses along U.S. 70.

The highway makes Wilson’s Mill’s story a little different from that of Archer Lodge, Vinson said. A major thoroughfare doesn’t cut through Archer Lodge.

But Vinson said he and other community leaders have learned from towns like Wilson’s Mills that have already gone through the incorporation process.

If lawmakers, and then voters, decide to make Archer Lodge a town, he hopes residents will weigh in on what they want the town to become.

“It would be nice to have a bank out here,” Vinson said. “It would be nice to have a restaurant here.” Staff Writer Andrew Kenney contributed to this report.