BOISE -- Growth is a theme all too familiar to Idahoans.
This time, there's backlash against potential development replacing farmland along the foothills in Northwest Boise. Longtime Boiseans say it's one of the last open spaces of its kind in the capital city, and they're asking the city and developers to slow down.
Neighbors KTVB spoke with say the area off Hill Road is unique; they say it's open spaces like it that make Boise special and they want to preserve the rural nature of it. So they started a petition asking the City of Boise to deny requests to change the zoning to higher density. They say it has about 1,000 signatures so far.
KTVB reached out to one of the developers putting the proposal together, Corey Barton Homes, on Monday for more information on the project, but we have yet to hear back. Developers CBH and Trilogy haven't submitted their application to the City of Boise yet, but neighbors think that can happen any day.
For 60 years, Boise resident and North West Neighborhood Association resident Richard Llewellyn's family has owned a plot of land between Hill Road and Hill Road Parkway. It's surrounded by rural fields and farmland, nestled in a corner of the Boise Foothills
"It's a really unique and kind of wonderful area still," Llewellyn said. "This is a protected area as well, so you have a lot of deer and wildlife can move down."
But now, it's possible that the rural nature could fade away.
"The surrounding area is being negotiated, perhaps sold to developers, and from my perspective, as a landowner, I worry probably every day about someday having to sell. What will become of this larger area here?" Llewellyn told KTVB.
Nearly 40 acres surrounding his property could be transformed into suburbs.
"It's pretty much the last place," Llewellyn added. "And from my perspective as a landowner, I worry probably every day about someday having to sell."
Developers CBH and Trilogy met with Llewellyn and about 200 of his neighbors in December to tell them about their plans. Records show builders plan to ask the city to rezone the area for higher density so they can build 300-plus units stretching across both sides of Hill Road Parkway between Duncan and Bogart Lanes.
"That just simply doesn't fit the vision of our neighborhood association," another neighbor, Karen Danley, said. "We would like a variety of lots."
A pre-application shows primarily apartments and townhouses would go up, along with some single-family houses.
"Since we have already built two huge apartment buildings plus townhomes on State and Gary Lane and State and Bogart Lane recently developed within the last three years, so we would like to have some variety in those lots," Danley added. "We understand that State Street may be becoming more high density but as we move toward the foothills, we would like to transition to the foothills and density and a buffer zone."
The neighborhood association put up signs lining Hill Road Parkway asking Boise city leaders to preserve the land and prompting fellow Boiseans to sign their petition.
Fliers are flagging down cyclists, walkers and runners on Hill Road, telling them about the traffic burden on roads they feel this potential development would add.
"If it happens so quickly... they turn around and it's gone and they don't feel like there was a process to really say what do we want to save, what do we want Boise to be like in 20 years from now?" LLewellyn said.
They're fighting a fight that's become a narrative in the valley over the last few years, as neighbors ask the developers and the city to grow carefully.
"I think a lot of people would like the reason they moved here to remain," Danley said.
"Once these kinds of areas are gone it's all going to look the same," Llewellyn added. "Let's slow down and look at what's important to us. And make good decisions."