WAKE FOREST — In the mayor's opinion, Wake Forest is growing faster than the planning department can keep up. So he wanted to convince the town commissioners to slow down on development in the area.

The historic town of Wake Forest is quiet, accessible and constantly changing. It's a town that Marable Dowda has lived in for most of her life.

"The nice thing about Wake Forest is that it still has the same old spirit," Dowda says. "People look after each other. When you walk up and down these streets, everybody speaks."

Wake Forest is also experiencing a lot of growth. Subdivisions are popping up everywhere. In fact, so many homes so fast has Wake Forest's mayor saying slow down. George Mackie argues the town is overwhelmed.

"We just have much more demand being placed on us all the time," Mayor Mackie explains. "What we need to do is have managed growth."

Mackie asked the town commissioners for a moratorium or a pause on subdivision applications. By slowing things down a bit, Mackie said, the city would be able to handle growth better.

The Wake Forest commissioners disagreed. The panel closed the discussion, and the rapid growth of the town will continue.

The commissioners said they have full confidence in the town's ability to handle the growth. They also say slowing down growth right now could be devastating for future growth.