CHATHAM COUNTY, N.C. – A controversial proposal for a landfill is officially off the table in Goldston, at least for the next year.

A landowner was looking to build a commercial waste landfill, just outside of town limits on about 162 acres, which is larger than the town itself.

According to Mayor Jonathan Hensley, the future of that land is still uncertain. The total space is 600 acres, and the landfill was going to take up 162 of those acres.

For reference, the town of Goldston has a 1-mile radius, and Hensley says a house hasn’t been built in town limits in about two decades.

“We have a subdivision that we have just annexed in. It’s the first subdivision Goldston has ever seen or been proposed to. We just annexed that in, and it's going to be 90 houses, and that will double our town population. Our census has not went up in 20 years, give or take,” Hensley said.

Hensley says the town is looking forward to growth, but believes that there is a sharp difference in residential and commercial growth.

The proposed landfill would have been just south of the center of Goldston.

For months, residents have expressed concerns about possible negative impacts to the environment, traffic and property values. According to the mayor, the application for the landfill was pulled late last week, partially because of concerns expressed by residents. However, that doesn’t guarantee it will stay undeveloped.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to the landowner’s representative for comment and haven’t heard back.

The mayor says the landowner could apply for the land to be used in a different way, or he could still go to the county and ask them to approve it as a landfill.

While the future of the land isn’t clear, the mayor says this is part of a larger discussion about how they want to approach development in a rural area that’s growing quickly.

“You have to play this very uneven balance game of where do you stop the commercial? Where do you start the residential? And where do you put all that money to make it more appealing and keep everybody that's been here for 100 years and their family happy,” Hensley said.

The mayor also says because the proposal was pulled, the landowner can’t come back to the town to apply for anything on that land for at least a year.

Major facilities including Vinfast, Toyota and Wolfspeed are all about 20 minutes from Goldston, so the mayor believes the growth is only going to continue.

“So we have been, some say good and some say bad, hidden. Out of sight, out of mind. But now we are definitely in sight,” Hensley said.

Right now, Goldston’s annual town budget is $200,000, which doesn’t allow for many improvements to be made for the growing area.

“I was able to get a grant and we did our tennis courts and our basketball courts that were in dire need of revamping. That total was about $42,000 just to resurface a tennis court and basketball court. And we're redoing our walking trail, which is another $58,000. So that's half of our budget on two things,” Hensley said.

Goldston's mayor pointing to a map of the town. (Spectrum News 1/Kyleigh Panetta)

The town also doesn’t have any full-time paid employees right now.

“For years the town has been pretty reliant on the county to handle most of the stuff like this. They prepare all the applications for annexation and land use and water and all our zoning. The county has handled 90% of that, but we are growing at a pace now that they can no longer do that because it kind of interferes with county projects. They're growing three times faster than Goldston is,” Hensley said.

“So now we're going to have to hire an engineer and somebody to handle all of our annexations, all of our paperwork, all our land uses, rezonings, all of that. And it is hard to find somebody to do that on a very small budget,” Hensley said.

Mitch Gaines, a sixth generation Goldston resident, believes there are better ways to increase revenue generated for the town’s budget than allowing a large landfill to be built in the area.

“Goldston could use many improvements. Everything costs. They want to make park improvements. We just got approval for a crosswalk here. There are lots of things that can be done here and it all costs money,” Gaines said. “But my question back to the town board is: what are other ways we can generate revenue for tax dollars here in Goldston to make that improvement?”

Gaines says he wants to make sure all risks and rewards are analyzed before any permits or proposals are approved in Goldston. He believes residents and the town need to fully understand what they’re signing up for when projects are presented.

“A lot of people don't want progress, a lot people don't want change. They want Goldston to stay exactly like it is. But I for one and many others would like to see Goldston grow. It has a lot of potential to be that little Hallmark town. But of course that requires money. But I personally don't think growth is a bad thing. We just got to have the good growth. We don't want the negative growth. We don't want to be the little town known where the dump is,” Gaines said.