Four Oaks plans rebirth

FOUR OAKS -- Little beckons to Interstate 95 travelers to get off at Four Oaks. The main view from the highway: about 1,000 wooded and undeveloped acres.

But around its interchange, Four Oaks is staging a rebirth.

Within five to 10 years, town leaders envision an eye-catching grist mill rising above a pond, a welcome center offering country hams and jelly preserves, and a row of bed and breakfasts. The town is banking on country comforts to entice visitors to do what Golden Arches cannot: stay a while.

"Everybody likes Bojangles' and McDonalds, but every interchange has that," said Mayor Linwood Parker.

Four Oaks, about 36 miles south of Raleigh, needs something different to become a weekend getaway and a must-see stop along the East Coast's main traffic artery, Parker said. He pointed to satellite towns, such as Waltham, Mass., and Cherry Hill, N.J., that have won tourists with shark tanks, historic home tours and free parking.

On Tuesday, after nearly two years of planning and a recently lifted moratorium on development, the town's board of commissioners adopted districts for its interchange and downtown.

The rules offer aesthetic guidelines so that development will resemble a cohesive village rather than a hodge podge of businesses. The rules prohibit at least 24 types of establishments, such as mobile home parks, batting cages and auto repair shops. Also banned: tattoo parlors, adult establishments and tarot card readers.

The restrictions will raise the value of land by reassuring developers what won't move in next door, Parker said. But the plan has its detractors.

"I don't like people telling me what to do with my property," said Jerry Parker Jr., a Dunn lawyer who owns a half-acre near downtown. He was one of about 50 people at the meeting Tuesday. Denied exemption from the new rules, he said he may sue the town.

Billy Allen, 69, praised the concept but worries that it will take time for developers to become aligned with the town's vision.

Cleo Austin, wife of longtime former Mayor Jack Austin, said she loved the return-to-roots theme, but she questioned the cost.

She opposed plans to build a train depot downtown: "No train stops in Four Oaks. People say that's foolish money to be spent."

Mayor Linwood Parker said the town sprang up with the railroad. A depot could serve as a museum and meeting place. He said that the key to that project and other development, is to woo more grants, private investors and donations. He added that he understands why some people would chafe at the new restrictions.