Neighbors fought Nampa family’s planned development. Then they fell in love with it. How?
It’s not often that a controversial development can whip around and become one of the most supported projects in recent memory — so much so that it brings people to tears.
Yet that is exactly what happened with a proposed development near Lake Lowell and the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge in Nampa. The subdivision would add 189 homes, space for businesses, an event area, community space and a Japanese botanical garden.
“I’ve never seen, in my years as a councilman, so many positive statements,” said Council Member Victor Rodriguez during a Nampa City Council meeting Feb. 18.
Council Member Natalie Jangula started crying while talking about the development shortly before the council unanimously approved it.
“This is the American dream,” Jangula said. “This is Nampa.”
The development comes from Nampa’s Kido family, who have been prominent members of the community for generations. It would turn 260 acres of their farmland into a master-planned area with a heavy emphasis on the region’s agricultural history.
Scott Kido (KEE-doh), a former Nampa School Board member, and Lori Lovelace have run Lovelace & Kido Dental Group since 1982. Many of the attendees at the council meeting knew the Kidos or had been patients of theirs at some point.
The family farm, Deer Flat Ranch, holds events and weddings and has hosted the Lakeside Lavender Festival for four years.
In addition to the homes and commercial space, the plans envision redevelopment of the old 70-acre Bowman Gravel Pit on the north side of the site, a new pathway along Midland Boulevard, a 5-acre pond, a pumpkin patch, a corn maze, a vineyard and an expansion of existing lavender fields.
Charlie Kido, Scott Kido’s son, said that he hoped they could host cherry blossom and fall festivals and a Christmas light show.
“I believe this is one of the most beautiful sites in the Treasure Valley, and we believe any development of the space demands extraordinary care and consideration,” Charlie Kido said. “Our proposal achieves this.”
Charlie Kido said the vision is to build an agriculture-centric mixed-use development that acts as a transitional buffer to the wildlife refuge. The plans would combine agricultural, residential and commercial amenities and could become a community and cultural hub for Nampa, he said.
Gardens to honor Japanese-American farmers
The Japanese Botanical Garden would be a key element of the plans. Scott Kido said the gardens would reflect his family’s story and those of other Japanese-American farmers in the Treasure Valley after the United States forcibly detained and relocated Japanese-Americans during World War II.
According to Scott Kido, his parents had owned a farm in Portland and were forced to sell everything and move to Nyssa, where they worked as farm laborers until the war ended.
When they got out, the family had nothing, Scott Kido said. But they “worked their butts off” and started the farm and passed it down the generations.
“Throughout the whole valley, these beautiful Japanese farms were built, and there’s hardly any of them left,” Scott Kido said. “In another generation, that memory will be gone.”
People hated Japanese-Americans after the war, Scott Kido said between tears. But his family pushed ahead.
“They did something really wonderful so that I could chase my dreams,” he said. “That’s what (the garden) is going to be about: It’s going to be dedicated to the Japanese-American farm families in the Valley.”
A groundswell of support in Nampa
For about an hour and a half, both council members and the vast majority of public attendees spoke about the benefits of the project and the excitement surrounding it. The meeting was reported earlier by the Idaho Press.
Many of those who spoke said that they’d had concerns about the plans and spoken out against the project previously, but those concerns had dissipated after the Kidos had spent hours talking with them and letting them tour the property.
Kam Wheeler, who lives north of the property, said during public testimony that like many others he had toured the property several times with the Kidos and had tried to buy some of the land because he hoped to live there himself.
“This is a beautiful area, (and) they’ve done a fantastic job with the development,” he said. “This is what positive development looks like.”
Wheeler said the land could easily have become full of much-denser housing that didn’t positively contribute to the city. The Kidos, he said, had thought out the plan and had positive intentions for the outcome.
“It is certainly in our community’s best interest to do what we can to foster development that keeps families and people like this here in our community,” Wheeler said.
Nampa development concerns
The support is a wild reversal from November, when members of Nampa’s Planning and Zoning Commission heard hours of testimony against the development. Much of the opposition focused on the roads and infrastructure of the area.
“I’m not necessarily against the development of south Nampa,” said resident Bart McKnight in November. “I would love to have a couple of nice restaurants closer. But the infrastructure must catch up and be prepared for growth. Otherwise it’s like pushing a gallon of milk through a straw.
“At some point, the pressure will be overwhelming to the point of catastroph(e), and I beg the city leaders to focus on infrastructure first,” he said.
Others argued then that building so close to the wildlife refuge would endanger the thousands of animals that migrate through or call it home.
“This is a national flyway,” said nearby resident Cindy Campbell in November. “I’m just flabbergasted that they’re doing this.”
Planning and Zoning Commissioner Steve Kehoe said there were several lingering questions about the development during the November hearing and that he didn’t feel comfortable approving it until some of those concerns were answered.
But after attaching a long list of conditions that addressed some of those concerns, Kehoe voted in favor of the development and helped it to pass unanimously — sending it to the Nampa City Council for final approval.
A roadmap for future development?
During the City Council meeting, Charlie Kido said he was worried about the development after coming out of the Planning and Zoning meeting.
There were still a handful of concerns. Multiple neighbors who worried about roadway and infrastructure improvements made comments. Some people commented about geology and water, a fence for a nearby homeowner’s association, and whether the blossoms on the Kidos’ cherry trees could be poisonous for animals at the refuge.
Charlie Kido said he’d work with those who still had concerns about the project.
Some council members wondered aloud how the family had succeeded in reversing public sentiment.
Council Member Sebastian Griffin asked how many hours the family had spent meeting with concerned citizens to discuss their issues. Charlie Kido said that number was likely in the four-digit range, but “I couldn’t even give a guess … We’ve kind of lost track.”
“There was a lot of … negative comments (at Planning and Zoning),” Charlie Kido said. “We did work really hard meeting with people and explaining the project, and kind of just making people understand the reason why we were doing this.”
Jangula, who marks her notes with highlighters during meetings, said she’d never seen so many green notes for a project in her time as a City Council member.
“That just goes to show how much communication you’ve had with the community,” she said to Charlie Kido, “(and) how much you put in and in the respect that you have.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
