Preserving rural roots: Gray's Creek residents launch effort to become a town

By Stephanie Meador, posted Jul 17, 2026 on BizFayetteville.com

Proposed incorporation boundary (pink) · Gray’s Creek, Cumberland County, N.C. This is a working draft and is subject to revision. Image courtesy of grayscreeknc.com.

After decades as an unincorporated rural community in Cumberland County, Gray’s Creek is taking steps to become its own town. Robb Twaddell, a Gray’s Creek resident for over 20 years, is leading the effort to have Gray’s Creek incorporated as a town.

According to the official Gray’s Creek, N.C. website, incorporating a municipality creates a local level of government with authority to provide services and regulate land use within a defined boundary.

“We’re just trying to establish a… local government, where we can provide more recreation, more public safety, more public works and more economic development in that area,” shared Twaddell.

Gray’s Creek is currently part of Cumberland County and is not incorporated into any municipality. Although the community falls under the jurisdiction of the county commissioners and is served by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and other county-level services, Twaddell and others believe a town government would allow residents to have a stronger voice in decisions that directly affect them.

Incorporation would give an elected town board and mayor authority over zoning, planning and local land use rules. Supporters argue that this local control is key to ensuring that new development fits the community’s values and does not erode the rural lifestyle many families have maintained for generations.

“We like protecting the rural character. Our goal is not to change Gray’s Creek into something else. The goal is to protect Gray’s Creek from being changed without its residents leading the way,” shared Twaddell.

The proposed town would also be able to access municipal funding streams, such as North Carolina road funds, and prioritize services like local roads, street lighting, recreation and public safety. Currently, Twaddell noted, only one sheriff’s deputy typically patrols the area. Supporters hope incorporation could eventually support three or four patrol deputies, either through a dedicated district in partnership with the sheriff’s office or potentially a local police district.

“Currently, there are 23,000 residents in Gray’s Creek, with over 4,500 households, and about 50 square miles of land, proposed land… our proposed boundary is I-95, the Cape Fear River, the Bladen and Robeson County line, so that incorporates significantly part of Cumberland County, and you know we’d like to pursue this and see if the residents are for it,” explained Twaddell.

The proposed municipal tax rate is $0.21 per $100 of assessed property value. Gray’s Creek currently pays a fire district tax of $0.15 per $100. Incorporation would replace the current fire tax structure, so the net new amount for most households would be the difference between those two rates.

“We love our little community, and we just want to make it better,” shared Twaddell.

To move from idea to reality, organizers have begun a formal process. A first public hearing in June recently drew between 50 and 100 residents. The next major milestone is a kickoff event on July 16 at Paradise Acres, where speakers are expected to include State Rep. Diane Wheatley, county commissioners, representatives from the sheriff’s office and the fire department.

Twaddell shared that the last municipality to undergo incorporation was Eastover, and that was 20 years ago.

One of the key requirements for incorporation is securing petition signatures from 15% of registered voters in Gray’s Creek. Twaddell and other volunteers are working to gather those signatures while finalizing a proposed budget and other documentation needed to submit the incorporation request to the North Carolina General Assembly.

If the effort advances, the proposal would likely be presented in the General Assembly’s regular session between January and May of next year. Lawmakers would then decide whether to approve the incorporation. If granted, Gray’s Creek could become an official town as early as the end of next year.

“We won’t fix every single issue overnight, but it’d give us a stronger voice,” added Twaddell.

Visit https://grayscreeknc.com for more information.

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