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SOUTHERN PINES - A proposed guide for the town's growth allows for mixed-use development similar to a plan rejected by the Town Council two years ago.

The guide is a long-range plan that was presented to the Southern Pines Planning Board earlier this year. It examines the town's development over the next 20 years.

Bike paths, improvements to the parks and recreation program, and adoption of a downtown business plan are among the projects identified in the plan. The plan must be approved by the Planning Board and the Town Council.

Town Manager Reagan Parsons said the plan is built around the assumption that Southern Pines' population will grow 40 percent over the next 20 years. It is now more than 13,000.

The $170,000 study was conducted by Studio Cascade Inc. of Spokane, Wash. Input was gathered by a 20-person town advisory board and through several public workshops.

Parsons said the study became a priority because of the Pine Needles development controversy that began in 2007. The project was proposed under a zoning designation called a planned unit development, or PUD. It could have led to a 800-home development on 558 acres near the Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club.

The Town Council rejected a rezoning request from the property owners in February 2008. A one-year moratorium on developing the land ended in May 2009.

The zoning for that property falls under a conditional-use permit dating to the 1990s that allows for a mix of residential and industrial uses in addition to a nine-hole golf course.

The long-range plan looks at Pine Needles as a likely spot for traditional mixed-use development.

That applies to larger, mostly undeveloped land that is well-suited to mixing residential and nonresidential uses similar to downtown Southern Pines.

"It's a more traditional neighborhood plan with offices, retail and residential use in a pedestrian-friendly environment," Parsons said.

The plan also studies the wooded land on Morganton Road near Henley Road.

Parsons said consultants recognized that property on the south side of Morganton Road would be a perfect site for big-box stores.

Property on the north side could be used for offices and multi-family housing, Parsons said.

The property is in an overlay district, which restricts how it can be developed.

Consultants said residents voiced the importance of downtown.

The plan suggests setting a five-year timetable for adopting a downtown plan, which would define its functional, aesthetic and economic characteristics.

Within the next year, the plan suggests adding bike and pedestrian trials, including identifying and mapping out existing and future routes.

Residents will have an opportunity to offer input on the plan at a Planning Board public hearing on Feb. 18. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Douglass Community Center.

The draft is available at www.southernpines.studio cascade.com.

Copies also are available at the Southern Pines Library and the Planning Department office.