A developer wants to build 1,900 houses and 370 apartments on the edge of Kuna
A 761-acre proposed development could bring 1,925 houses and 372 apartments to the eastern edge of Kuna, pushing growth miles from its city center.
The master-planned community, called Spring Rock, is being planned for current pasture and farmland located south of and adjacent to Ten Mile Creek Road. It would extend more than 2 miles from Cole Road on the southeast to Five Mile Road on the northwest, touching the New York Canal on the northwest and the Falcon Crest Golf Course on the southwest, where just last year the Kuna City Council approved over 2,000 homes on 1,000 acres.
Kuna has grown rapidly eastward since the housing boom of 2007, when developers were proposing to convert massive swaths of farmland into planned communities. Its growth has left a massive gap between the original townsite and newer suburban-style developments that sprung up amid farmland south of Boise.
“The cities are growing together,” said Dave Yorgason, one of the developers. He is working alongside two other long-time Treasure Valley real estate brokers, Christopher Findlay and Pat Duynslager, on the project.
More than just houses, the subdivision would include 83,000 square feet of commercial and office space, a 35-acre park, mini-self storage and an elementary school built for 600 students.
Yorgason estimates the project would not be fully built-out until 2040.
A report by COMPASS, the Treasure Valley’s regional planning agency, to the Ada County Highway District says the developer’s proposal exceeds the growth forecasted by planners for this area.
“Coupled with the Falcon Crest proposal to the southwest, transportation infrastructure may not be able to support the new transportation demands,” the report says. In addition, the nearest police and fire stations are over 4 miles away — which could strain Kuna’s services.
The project will go before the Ada County Highway District Commissioners Wednesday for the first phase of approval. An early traffic study for the project showed that several roads would need widening beyond what the district had anticipated in the area in the next 20 years. Planners determined that the following improvements in the surrounding area would be necessary:
- Cloverdale Road between Amity Road and Hubbard Road - Widen from three or five lanes to seven lanes.
- Pleasant Valley Road between Gowen Road and Ten Mile Creek Road - Widen from two lanes to three lanes.
- Columbia Road between Meridian Road and Cloverdale Road - Widen from two lanes to five lanes.
- Hubbard Road between Five Mile Road and Cloverdale Road - Widen from two lanes to five lanes.
- Five Mile Road between Ten Mile Creek Road and Hubbard Road - Widen from two lanes to five lanes.
- Kuna Road between Meridian Road and Eagle Road - Widen from two lanes to five lanes.
- Kuna Road between Eagle Road and Cloverdale Road - Widen from two lanes to three lanes.
Yorgason noted that in addition to millions of dollars in impact fees to the highway district, the developers would also pay for several road improvements within the development itself, such as extending Five Mile Road.
“We are trying to be cooperative partners in the community,” Yorgason said in a phone interview.
The first phase of development, north of the Falcon Crest golf course, would include 34 fourplex lots for a total of 136 units, plus 791 single family homes. The density would be about 4 units per acre. Homes would start around $300,000.
“The homes will be clustered, and there will be paths throughout the open space areas,” Yorgason said.
The ACHD Commission must approve the project before it can be considered by Kuna Planning and Zoning Commission, and ultimately, the City Council.
Previous developments, like the Falcon Crest subdivision, have faced intense resistance from neighbors who worried about a lack of water to serve the area. Yorgason’s development would be in Suez’s service area, and it would be hooked up to the wastewater treatment plant Kuna built in 2008 near the intersection of Ten Mile and Lake Hazel Roads.
Yorgason said he has worked with Kuna city planners on their new comprehensive plan to bring forward a project that fit.
“We believe we have a path to approval,” Yorgason said.
The city of Kuna did not make anyone available Tuesday for comment on the project.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
