What just happened to 469-house subdivision sought by one of U.S.’s biggest home builders
Keri Rosti didn’t set out to sell the 171 acres of farmland that she and her husband, Sam, have worked for more than four decades.
But in recent years, they watched as some of their neighbors sold their land. Housing developments went up on all four sides of them. That made it harder to farm. New neighbors were unaccustomed to hearing farm sounds and encountering slow-moving tractors and other equipment on nearby roads.
“We are boxed in by development,” Rosti told the Star City Council on Tuesday. “When we run farm equipment down the road, people want to wave at us. But they’re not giving us a friendly wave, if you know what I mean.”
So the Rostis decided to sell their farm to Toll Brothers, one of the nation’s largest home builders, which wants to build a 469-house subdivision on it. The Horsham, Pennsylvania, company is seeking approval of an annexation, a zone change, preliminary plat and planned unit development for the subdivision at 1460 N. Pollard Lane, west of Idaho 16 and north of Idaho 44.
Seven acres on the south portion of the property is within Star’s eastern city limits. The rest is in unincorporated Ada County.
At Tuesday’s hearing, attended by about 50 people, neighbors raised concerns about increased traffic, congestion and housing density.
Residents also raised safety concerns over children crossing an extension of Floating Feather Road if it becomes a major road that splits the subdivision.
“Right now, there’s a lot of extra traffic to Star Middle School,” which opened in August 2018 at 2211 N. Pollard Lane, one man told the council. “And I just think if you add another 469 homes, you’re probably adding at least another 800 cars.”
Council members had concerns of their own. Some said the 8 acres of land set aside for commercial development within the subdivision was not enough. And they said lots at the northern edge of the development were too small, when a neighboring development has homes on 1-acre lots.
Mayor Trevor Chadwick and council members Michael Keyes and David Hershey asked Toll Brothers to consider adding additional land for commercial development. Fifteen acres would be more appropriate, Keyes said.
Becky McKay, chief planner for Engineering Solutions of Meridian, who represents Toll Brothers, said the developer envisioned businesses that would not compete with restaurants and stores in the town’s main business district. Instead, they would likely consist of businesses such as a day care center, a dentist’s office, insurance office or coffee shop.
“It’s flexible, but I don’t see that happening from the get-go,” McKay said. “We’re going to need some rooftops before we could get a day care or other services.”
Council members said they were also concerned about access to the proposed subdivision through an extension of Floating Feather Road west through the development from Highway 16. The Idaho Transportation Department is considering building an overpass over Highway 16, the main route between Boise and Emmett, which has been proposed as an expressway to North Idaho.
The transportation department is scheduled to release a report in April on its plans for the intersection. The council said it wanted to wait until after the report is released to decide how to address the situation. If an overpass is not built, plans call for right-in, right-out access to the subdivision from Highway 16.
There were also concerns raised about the density of houses on the northern border of the property.
Lot sizes throughout the property would range from 5,833 square feet to 24,000 square feet, with the average size 8,574 square feet, McKay said.
The lots on the northern border are on the smaller end of the range. There was concern those houses would be located near another development where the houses are built on one-acre parcels.
“I know this project doesn’t directly abut those one-acre parcels, but I think that should be addressed,” Keyes said.
McKay said Toll Brothers is committed to building a quality subdivision.
“This is not just another subdivision,” she said. “This is a community.”
The council delayed a decision, asking Toll Brothers to tweak its plans and come back to the council’s May 19 meeting.
After the meeting, McKay said she would meet with the developers to address the council’s concerns. The postponement “gives us an opportunity to make some adjustments based on their comments,” she said.
The development is just one of many new projects that have sprung up in Star in recent years as the small city has transformed from a rural farm town to one of Boise’s fastest-growing suburbs. Much of the growth has sprung up near the intersection Idaho 16 and Idaho 44, or State Street.
Southeast of the intersection, M3 Cos. is planning to propose a 268-house subdivision on a 145-acre lot at 7575 W. Moon Valley Road. To the southwest, Boise lawyer T.J. Angstman is building a 196-unit apartment complex called Crystal Springs. And a company managed by Brian Black, vice president of Boise’s Ameritel Inns Inc., recently bought a parcel at the northeast corner of Highway 44 and Highway 16.
Nearby the proposed Rosti Farms subdivision, and just East of North Plummer Road, the Agoura Hills, California-based company American Homes 4 Rent is building a neighborhood of 240 single-family rental homes.
Reporter Kate Talerico contributed.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 11:29 PM.
