Consultants tell Chatham County board sewer upgrades in 2027 could unlock thousands of homes and roughly 1,000 more students

Consultants from the Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRI) and its ORED group told the Chatham County Board of Education on Sept. 8 that scheduled sewer and water upgrades expected in 2027 in Pittsboro and Siler City will remove constraints on residential development and could produce a substantial influx of new students.

ORED senior staff told the board the district’s development inventory includes 51 pending residential developments beyond Chatham Park, totaling more than 10,000 homes still to be built. “A big number you’ll always wanna remember here in the coming years, 2027, is when sewer improvements are expected to be completed in both Pittsboro and in Siler City,” said Mr. Godfrey of ORED. He said opening that capacity would let approved projects move forward quickly and could drive a high magnitude of student growth.

Why this matters: the district uses out-of-capacity tables — school-by-school forecasts that compare building capacity with projected membership — when planning repairs, additions and boundary changes. Consultants…