The Wake County Commissioners unanimously voted down a proposal to restrict development along the Little River after dozens of people turned out Monday against the plan.

The vote is a defeat for Raleigh officials who argued that the restrictions would improve the city's chances of getting regulatory approval to build the proposed Little River Reservoir in the county's northeast corner.

Of the more than 20 people who spoke at a public hearing, most were property owners critical of a planning process that gave them little opportunity for input.

"I don't want to send the message that the Little River Reservior isn't important. It is," Commissioner Paul Coble said. "But it's not so important that we leave the public out."

The proposal would have reduced the residential density allowed in critical areas of the reservoir's watershed from the state-required minimum of one dwelling for every two acres to one dwelling for every three acres.

It also would have banned any municipality from expanding into a vast area of less-critical watershed -- including the extension of water and sewer lines.

Commissioner Tony Gurley said he was bothered that property owners affected by the proposed reservoir would not be allowed to benefit from Raleigh's additional water supply.

"They can look over and see the lake, but if their well goes dry, tough luck," Gurley said. "That strikes me as being very unfair."

The families of some who spoke have owned property in the affected area for generations and live on roads that carry the names of ancestors.

"Every day of every year since 1743, my family has farmed this land," said Jane Fowler, 77. "We've been good stewards of this land and the water. Please don't take our rights as property owners."

Others questioned the wisdom of tapping the Little River as a water source. Ted Mitchell, a farmer who lives on Mitchell Mill Road, said the Little River regularly runs dry during the summer and is unlikely to provide much relief during droughts.

"I can take a shovel and dam it up in about 30 seconds," he said.

Among those who spoke in favor of the changes was Dale Crisp, Raleigh's public utilities director. After the commissioners voted, Crisp said the decision could hurt the city's chances to win approval for the reservoir project from state and federal officials.

"We don't have as good a story to tell to the regulators," Crisp said. "But we're going to tell them a story."

Prior to Monday's vote, the county held four community meetings to educate the public and to invite comment from people who own property in the Little River watershed.

Crisp and Wake County planners have cited Little River's high water-quality classification as a reason why the tougher restrictions are warranted. They fear that environmental regulators might block the reservoir's construction if development pollutes the water.

The six-mile-long lake between Rolesville and Zebulon, in the works for two decades, would provide 17 million gallons of drinking water a day for northeast Wake.

Rolesville, which is one of six Wake towns that gets its water from Raleigh, is the only Wake municipality that opposed the tougher restrictions.

Mayor Frank Eagles said before the commissioners voted that the town might sue if the issue didn't go Rolesville's way.

Crisp and Wake County planners have cited the Little River's high water-quality classification as a reason why the tougher restrictions are warranted. They fear that environmental regulators might block the reservoir's construction if development pollutes the water.

The six-mile-long lake between Rolesville and Zebulon, in the works for two decades, would provide 17 million gallons of drinking water a day for northeast Wake.

Raleigh, which expects to need the new water source by 2020, is several years into a permitting process that could end up taking more than a decade.