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GROWING TOWN
GUARDS ITS CHARM
By Demorris Lee
Staff Writer
APEX -
When Wade Baker graduated from Apex High School in 1974, there were 96
people in his class. Last spring, the school graduated about 500. To Baker
-- whose children make the fifth generation of his family to be raised in
the town -- that tells the story of Apex.
"When I closed the family dry-cleaning business
in 1996, Apex had about 6,500 people," said Baker, 47, standing behind the
counter of Salem Street Soda Shop, the restaurant his family opened in
1999 in downtown Apex. "I'm tickled to death we got growth, because if we
were still with 5,000 people, I would have not attempted to open the
restaurant."
Apex's population tripled during the 1990s to an estimated 27,588
residents, according to the town's Planning Department. In 10 years, it is
expected to reach 40,000. The growth is so explosive that the town has
scrapped its old comprehensive plan, which it updated every five years,
and is starting anew. Comments have been solicited from the public, and
another public workshop is scheduled Jan. 21. The comprehensive plan
forecasts how the town will grow 25 years out.
The plan will include details about future land-use and transportation
needs, and economic plans.
"We think we have grown so substantially that we have outgrown the
previous plans," said J. Michael Wilson, Apex's assistant town manager.
"The previous plan may not be comprehensive enough. We need a whole new
fresh approach, is what we need. With all the new people, let's take a
blank page, and let's start at the beginning."
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Gossage |
Bryan Gossage, 29, a newly elected town commissioner, said growth was
one of the reasons he decided to run for office.
"Apex has changed
and become a younger town," Gossage said. "The new residents want the same
things Apex has had to offer, a close-knit community where you know your
neighbors. So even if we double in size, you are going to come to Apex and
say, 'This is a neat little town.' "
The town is getting bigger by the day.
There are several mammoth commercial projects coming on line. Work has
begun at U.S 64 and N.C. 55 that will bring more than 400,000 square feet
of commercial space. The shopping center, dubbed Beaver Creek Commons,
will be anchored by a SuperTarget and Lowe's Home Improvement.
Adjacent to the shopping center, Apex will get a movie theater -- The
Promenade at Beaver Creek -- something the town has been without for at
least 50 years, Wilson said. There will also be an Outback Steakhouse and
another restaurant near the movie theater. A Harris Teeter and a Walgreens
are coming to other shopping centers being built in the area.
Up the street, Olive Chapel Village, anchored by a Lowes Foods store,
has been open about a year. The complex, made of red bricks with white
stone accents, has several restaurants.
Recently sworn in to a third four-year term, Apex mayor Keith Weatherly
is pleased with the town's growth. But he said Apex, with the slogan "The
Peak of Good Living," will remain a small town.
"We do not covet city status at all," Weatherly said. "We are very
comfortable being a small town. We absolutely have no desire to grow
bigger for bigger's sake. Growth for growth's sake is not Apex."
Water and sewer capacity have helped restrain growth in the past. Town
officials alleviated a water shortage with a $70 million expansion of the
Cary/Apex water treatment plant in 2002. But there is still limited sewage
capacity. The town has purchased a million-gallon capacity from Raleigh.
"We think that will handle our need over the next five to six years,"
said Wilson, who has worked for the town for 25 years.
While local leaders welcome growth, it's still the small-town feeling
one gets when walking down the sidewalks in downtown Apex that converts
many folks from visitors to residents. Salem Street offers free on-street
parking, small antique and specialty shops, and freshly squeezed lemonade
at Salem Street Soda Shop.
"That's one of the first things a Realtor would do when they are trying
to sell someone a house or property in the town," Baker said. "They will
bring them downtown and let them walk around."
Wilson said that no matter how much Apex grows, downtown will be the
heart of the small town that's angling to remain a small town.
"Downtown is the jewel of the community," Wilson said. "It will always
be the focal point of our community, and it can't be replaced."
Staff writer Demorris Lee can be reached at
829-8937 or
demlee@newsobserver.com. |
