The Mebane 2045 Comprehensive Plan, a 20-year vision guiding policy relating to infrastructure and land use for the city of Mebane, is influencing city council decisions just four months after its adoption. At a budget work session March 12, the Planning and Zoning department named specific goals to update the Cameron Lane Thoroughfare Plan, evaluate a circulator bus route piloted by Orange County and research amendments to the Mebane Unified Development Ordinance — all potential projects named in Mebane 2045.
If passed, these goals would be the first formal policy decisions made since the city council adopted Mebane 2045 on December 8, 2025. Final budget approval for fiscal year 2027 is set for June 1.
The public process of creating Mebane 2045 began in July 2024, according to Ashley Ownbey, development director for the City of Mebane. That summer, the city council appointed 14 people to a community advisory committee. The council also held three public forums and collected feedback in an online survey.
Ownbey explained that Mebane 2045 is designed to be used by current and future councils to incorporate community feedback when making major decisions about the city.
“Anytime you start talking about the future, especially in a community like ours that’s experiencing growth, people can get a little bit scared,” Ownbey said. “We wanted throughout the whole process to emphasize that this is a planning document. It’s a guide. It’s not policy or law that has to be implemented, but the design of any comprehensive plan is founded on community input and indicates a shared vision.”
The first draft of Mebane 2045 was released to the public in summer 2025. It passed through several rounds of editing before its official adoption by the council in December.
Ownbey said that since December, Mebane has received more general rezoning requests than usual. She added that larger developments typically have conditional rezoning, which links a zoning change to a binding construction plan with specific conditions, rather than general rezoning, which involves a zoning change that allows land to be used for any purpose.
Several requests have also been specifically for duplex and triplex style homes, including a proposed multifamily housing project on West Holt Street passed by the council late March, and a duplex in the West End neighborhood.
“We heard that housing was important to community members during the planning process to draft this new document, and we’re seeing that kind of play out,” Ownbey said. “It is more by smaller developers. Folks are interested in exploring housing options that are not your traditional single-family detached home.”
Within the 51.18 square mile planning area, the population grew 11.9% between the 2020 census and 2024 estimates, according to the Mebane 2045 plan. The number of new housing units grew by about 1,500 over the same period.
Mebane native Charli Lunden has worked at Filament Coffee + Tea in downtown Mebane for two years and said she has seen the city growing, especially as new housing developments are built.
“I’ve noticed that it’s definitely gotten a lot busier, and I think it does have something to do with the expansion,” Lunden said. “And I’ve noticed that there’s people traveling from farther away to come to Mebane, like we’ve received people from Raleigh and Virginia.”
Lunden said she is staying up to date on news about the city’s expansion, and has heard some complaints in the coffee shop about the increasing cost of housing and other general expenses.
Having abundant and affordable housing choices is just one of 10 main goals of Mebane 2045. The other nine are a vibrant downtown, safe walkable and bikeable streets, protected natural areas, celebrations of cultural history, improved recreation, a welcoming and inclusive environment, innovative local businesses, dependable infrastructure and a range of community services.
“I think overall we did a good job in capturing themes,” Ownbey said. “Hopefully the implementation projects and the goals provide some level of framework where if an idea wasn't captured, five months down the road it can become something that we are able to move on. We’re still able to do that within the guidance of the plan.”
Lunden also spoke to the diversity in the city, especially in downtown Mebane.
“I hope that people new to Mebane can see all the different talent around,” Lunden said. “There’s a bunch of cute stores with locally made things.”
Because Mebane 2045 is a guide for council decisions, it doesn’t have any direct funding itself. Ownbey said she doesn’t have a cost estimate to implement the entire plan, but the council should prioritize continued investments in the city over the next 20 years.
“It’s a 20 year plan, so we’re not looking to accomplish all 50 implementation projects in a short period — that would not be financially prudent,” Ownbey said. “Some of the projects that are listed are probably ones where we want to be in partnership with a nonprofit or a private group to accomplish. So I don’t think that everything listed is coming out of the city’s budget.”
The next Mebane city council budget work session is scheduled for April 9.