This Idaho city could build 1,000 more homes. But neighbors want ‘rural feel’ preserved

Ada County residents are pushing back on the latest proposed development in Star, northwest of Boise, that would bring in around 3,000 new residents to a 700-acre golf course community, citing fears it would ruin their rural lifestyle and cause overcrowding on roads and in schools.

After five years of planning, the Star City Council began a multistep process to decide whether to add a slew of new homes to the small city of around 13,000 people. The Willowbrook Subdivision would include 1,094 single-family homes and an 18-hole public golf course north of Star city limits, between Idaho 16 and Can Ada Road.

The developer, Richard Phillips, of Willowbrook Development Inc. and Twin Islands LLC in Garden City, plans to add Willowbrook to an existing subdivision he built called Hillsdale Estates. Hillsdale Estates is outside of Star city limits, and Willowbrook would be the only part of Hillsdale Estates annexed into the city.

Most of the residents who spoke were opposed to the development and live in Hillsdale Estates.

“This area is one of the only rural residential developments in Star,” said Rochelle Henson, a resident in Hillsdale. “Allowing this proposed development with its current design and density will take away the opportunity to preserve the rural feel at the city’s edge.”

Nancy Collins, a Hillsdale Estates resident, presented a petition with around 900 signatures as of Tuesday night. The petition asked the council to deny the Willowbrook development. It calls for a new plan for Willowbrook that would reduce density, provide traffic mitigation and add another school.

The petition listed several reasons for the denial, including concerns that it would reduce safety on local roads, school overcrowding, police staffing levels and an increase in subdivision density.

Residents ask for lower density

The City Council held a nearly five-hour meeting Tuesday as dozens of residents, one after the other, spoke against the development to roaring applause from the audience. Over 100 people watched the hearing online and in person at LifeSpring Christian Church, where the meeting was held.

“We request that the city of Star deny this application for Willowbrook golf community until it has revised with lower density to accommodate road capacity and follow the comprehensive plan and until a complete application has been submitted and reviewed,” Collins said.

Joseph Galbraith, a resident of the Hillsdale Estates, which would be next to the Willowbrook Subdivision, said he would support Phillips developing the land for a rural community.

Galbraith said the new subdivision should have “a rural country appearance with one residence on a minimum of 1 acre.” The application for Willowbrook proposes one-and-a-half homes per acre.

Another Hillsdale resident, Lisa Priapi, agreed with Galbraith, saying there is a way for Willowbrook to develop, but “this current proposal is not it,” she told the council.

Before working on Willowbrook, Phillips built 346 homes across Hillsdale Estates and Monument Ridge, which is south of the proposed subdivision. The homes in Hillsdale are on 1- and 2-acre lots, and homes in Monument Ridge are on 10-acre lots.

Residents said that’s what they’re looking for from Willowbrook.

“(Phillips is) dramatically departing from his long-term design,” Priapi said. “We end up with a development that appears like a densely crowded bedroom community that we expect closer to town.”

The original Willowbrook proposal had more homes that would span Canyon and Ada counties. But it underwent changes that removed portions of Canyon County from the plan, reduced the number of homes by over 500 and eliminated plans for townhouses.

Willowbrook tries to ‘manage sprawl’

Deborah Nelson, a land-use attorney with Givens Pursley who represented Phillips in the application, said the Hillsdale lots immediately adjacent to Willowbrook are on 1 acre. She said homes on a half-acre would provide an appropriate transition from the Hillsdale homes.

“We’re proposing denser, smaller lots to preserve open space for the golf course, to preserve open space in addition to the golf course and to create that opportunity to manage sprawl,” Nelson said.

The meeting ended at midnight, and the council plans to deliberate and decide on whether to move forward with the proposal June 20.

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