Sanford reviews growth strategy as 30,000 new residents loom, services lag behind

Sanford continued the growth strategy review from its March retreat at the April 28 work session. They will develop a growth tier map and policies for annexation.

The city has had the same plans for several years, makes changes as they proceed, and the council wants the new master plan completed before next year.

A combination of policies, new land use plans, and new zoning regulations is the only way to slow sprawl.

Sanford has 12,345 approved residential units from over the last five years, according to the county GIS. Currently, 1,792 units are in review. If approved, the developments would increase the population by about 30,000, according to Charles Archer with Freese and Nichols. “This would double the population.”

Key factors in approving an annexation for development include the fire department response times. The city needs increased fire protection. The city’s fire radius map shows a lapse in service areas one, three, and four for a five-minute response and instead have a 10-minute response. Satellite annexes are a particular challenge to serving areas with limited fire stations and limited firefighters, as mentioned in the March retreat.

When considering development, the Deep River Elementary School (is the only school in the city) in location two is feasible because it can simply add a bus route instead of building a new school to meet capacity.

Areas with adequate wastewater capacity drive expansion; however, Sanford and Lee’s ample water service diminishes water service as a consideration for annexation.

Sanford is below best-practice standards for parkland. It has only 24 acres, so 23,800 residents are underserved with walkable parks, according to National Parks and Recreation Association (NRPA).

“There are far-reaching tentacles,” Member Charles Taylor said about how new homes will need trash service. “Senior-based communities…,” he began.

Senior-based communities were not covered in the work session.

Policies will be designed to ensure that developments have the same level of city services, including fire protection, water and sewer, trash service and law enforcement.

While the growth of the city will impact the police beat, it is not as big a growth area because a new officer can fill the service need.

The cost of doing business in the gray areas, versus those in the satellite areas, varies depending on whether the gray area is continuous.

Taylor said the council needed to consider the developers. He said the council should be informed of the cost of doing business before being asked to approve annexations.

The city compared current services to best practices to help understand the existing service capabilities. This determines the future growth tier and annexation policies.

Sanford is observing a project schedule that began in Nov. 2025. In Feb., they reviewed priorities and considerations and are still in this phase. By the end of June, they plan to have the growth tier map developed, and by the end of Aug., want the policy development completed, with a plan to adopt by Oct.

City and County Water Service

“You folks are in really good shape,” Archer said.

The water service has two covered areas, inside and outside of Sanford, and is served by TriRiver Water. They strive to preserve maintenance, water quality, and adapt with long-range planning.

Sanford’s Water Filtration Facility expansion project plans to increase capacity from 12 to 20-million-gallons-per-day.

There is a legislative process for those with wells and private septic to connect to city services.

The city dumps hundreds of thousands of gallons of water south of Tramway near Eakes Road each day to preserve the quality.

City Wastewater Service

TriRiver Water serves inside Sanford, the Jetport area, and Pittsboro’s expansion is under construction with completion expected in two years.

The expansion for the Big Buffalo water reclamation facility for 12 to 18-million-gallons-per-day is in progress.

The expansion efforts began back in 2016.

The growth tier maps will guide users to consult the master plan to determine which areas are suitable for larger developments.

After July, the system development fee will be a consideration.

Parks and Trails

The city serves eight parks and one greenway, with about 24 acres of public parkland. The National Parks and Recreation Association (NRPA) shows 30% of residents live within a 10-minute walk to a park.

In the conversation of growth, best practices, according to NRPA, is 10 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents.

The Greenway Plan was adopted in 2024, and a new park is in creation for downtown.

Taylor said the parks’ vision needed to connect to the Uniform Development Ordinances with open space, so they did not inhibit the developer’s choices. “There’s a lot of pressure,” he said about developers trying to profit.

Senior Planner Marshall Downey said they needed to create spaces that benefited the entire community.

Parks and their quality may be used as leverage in development approval, such as with a fee in lieu of a park adjoining or within a subdivision.

Solid Waste

Sanford has five zones for solid waste services.

Trash and recycling is serviced by GFL.

Freese and Nichols said there were no best practice considerations, but collection should be efficient.

Mayor Rebecca Salmon parks should not be held at the same level of consideration for approval as life-saving services.

Archer said public park maintenance needed to be preserved.

When the newly approved developments are completed, the zones will need to be reconfigured by the provider.

Taylor suggested adding a corrugated section in neighborhoods to accommodate the trend in shipping. The number of miles and the density of homes will impact the needed changes.

Public Works Director Victor Czar said there is nothing in place that leaf and limb service must be provided.

Streets and Sidewalks

The thoroughfare plan shows where roads need to be built.

For best practices, the city aims for 90 to 100% of urbanized areas to have sidewalks, which will need to be maintained.

Taylor said the city needed to look at maintaining what it has before it adds more.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation requires visible growth before it adds or improves roads.

For items without concrete data, such as streets and sidewalks, Freese and Nichols said the topic should be avoided on the growth tier map, but they should have a policy.

Taylor continued the pressure on forming cost models for the city to provide services based on areas because it would benefit decision making processes and the developers.

Salmon said the staff would appreciate a cost model.

Freese and Nichols agreed to search for the data and prepare a cost model.

The policy and growth tier map will provide a color-coded system to show “x” cost of extending services for considering annexing into the city limits.

The next city council work session on growth is June 23.

Read coverage on the March retreats here and here.

April 28, 2026

Stephanie M. Sellers

Subscribe to Sandhills News and support this conservative flagship journalism with advertising.

Submit news tips, events and interview requests to editor@sandhills.news.

Sandhills News is plain-English local government reporting that explains how decisions affect your land, taxes, schools and rights.