CARY - Residents living in the Chatham County portion of Cary will be able to sound off on a draft land-use plan intended to guide future development near Jordan Lake.

The land-use plan, the handiwork of a joint committee formed in May, will be discussed from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight, in the multipurpose room at North Chatham Elementary.

A second meeting will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 30, in Bradford Hall in the Carolina Preserve at Amberly community in Cary.

The annexation issue has generated significant discussion and, at times, animosity between Cary and Chatham officials.

The committee has explored ways the two sides can work together on issues related to land use, annexation and transportation.

Officials on both sides of the border have been particularly concerned with an unincorporated area of Cary extending from the Chatham County line westward toward Jordan Lake.

"It is important to emphasize that the proposed joint plan is not intended to promote further annexation by Cary into Chatham County," Sally Kost, a Chatham commissioner, said in a recent press release. "The plan is designed to guide future development in that part of the county."

If adopted, the joint land-use plan would cover eastern sections of Chatham County, generally east of Jordan Lake and north of White Oak Creek to the Wake County line.

Representing Cary on the joint committee are council members Jennifer Robinson, Julie Robison and Erv Portman.

Commissioners George Lucier and Kost represent Chatham County.

"The main purpose of the [upcoming] meetings is to listen to comments and suggestions from residents, which will be used to further revise the proposed draft plan," Mayor Harold Weinbrecht of Cary and Lucier, chairman of the Chatham board, said in a statement.

The plan is also expected to be addressed during public hearings before both boards in the spring of 2010.