Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen said a recent Wake Forest annexation of 55 acres in the Falls Lake watershed could hurt state and federal approvals of the Little River Reservoir.

Rejecting a request from Raleigh, Wake Forest's town commissioners last week unanimously approved an annexation that would extend the town's limits into Falls Lake's outer watershed. The annexation brings the promise of water and sewer service to a parcel off the intersection of Jenkins Road and Capital Boulevard.

Chip Russell, Wake Forest's planning director, said development in the annexed parcel was planned before Wake Forest merged with Raleigh's water system in 2005, and the utility lines are already on the site.

For most watershed development, water and sewer service is handled by wells and septic systems to discourage high density. Because the Jenkins Road property's groundwater has been mildly contaminated by a neighboring industrial site, it would have to be developed with water and sewer lines.

"Utilizing wells and septic tanks aren't the best option when you put all those circumstances together," Russell said.

In a July 7 letter addressed to Wake Forest Town Manager Mark Williams, Allen said Raleigh leaders "are concerned that state and federal environmental regulatory permitting agencies receive clear messages that local governments ... are unified in our approaches."

Allen said a unified message was a "huge issue," and was "critical to any success," in securing approval of the Little River Reservoir in eastern Wake County.

"It puts us and them in a difficult situation," Allen said in a telephone interview. "Extending water and sewer lines into the watershed is not good idea. We felt those concerns are very serious and expected them to be taken seriously."

With all due respect ...

Since the 1980s, Raleigh has resisted attempts to encourage development in Falls Lake's watershed. The city mostly refuses to annex land or extend utilities into the watershed to discourage dense development that could pollute the lake.

Wake Forest commissioner Anne Hines said she disregarded Allen's request when she voted for the annexation.

"I'm a little concerned they're dictating for us how we can and can't develop the land in our own territory," Hines said.

Commissioner Chris Kaeberlein said that he respects Raleigh's concern for the watershed but that the exception for the parcel was legitimate.

"We annex the land that abuts Wake Forest," he said. "It makes sense for it to be part of our jurisdiction."

Property owner Bill Andrews said the site has already lost an opportunity to host a Wake County school for lack of permission to use the lines on the site.

"This is the first step, obviously," Andrews said. "Then we can sort through what some uses could be."