CARRBORO - Orange County residents just outside Carrboro are getting a lot of mail these days about a town they are not a part of.

Several weeks ago a group sent a letter to "greater Carrboro" landowners that made accusations against the town, chiefly centering on development. Mayor Mark Chilton followed up with a letter of his own Oct. 15, along with a 25-page document from Carrboro Town Attorney Michael Brough.

The original letter is addressed to landowners and farmers in the extraterritorial jurisdiction, land outside the town limits that the town controls.

The letter was written by members of Southern Orange County Farm and Landowners Committee, said Marilyn Kille, who owns Peppermint Spring Farm. Kille said she is a member of the committee.

"It's a loose group of farmers and citizens ... people who are outraged at what Carrboro is doing," she said.

The letter summary declared: "To control its urban development, Carrboro must control and sacrifice your land."

The letter stated the nutrient management rules aimed at reducing watershed pollution will prohibit ETJ residents from fertilizing their land in the future. It also said rural land "must serve as 'giant sponges' to offset burgeoning urban population."

The letters from the mayor and town disputed almost all of the committee's claims.

Chilton wrote that the initial letter spread "wild and exaggerated rumors."

He also said the fertilizer rules mentioned "do not apply outside of town limits."

"All I want to do is to be a good neighbor to those who live near the Town of Carrboro," he wrote. He encouraged residents to contact him with questions.

But Kille says the town's response was misleading.

The town's letter is "bamboozling people," she said.