Douglas County resident Cindy Nau isn’t against development or building in rural portions of the county, but she’s growing tired of new subdivisions going in with what she views as very little foresight.

“It just doesn’t seem like there’s any planning happening,” she said.

The breaking point for Nau, who resides at 1039 E. 1600 Road, was when she found out that a nearby landowner, David E. Mears, intended to develop 18.5 acres of land at the northwest corner of East 1600 and North 1000 roads.

The project would make room for five single-family homes along the north side of County Road 1055, the main route connecting Lawrence and Baldwin.

Worried that the development would add traffic, increase noise and cause drainage problems, Nau and her neighbors last week filed a petition to protest the development. If deemed valid by the Douglas County Clerk’s office, the petition would leave Mears needing unanimous approval from Douglas County commissioners for the project to move ahead.

Commissioners will consider the development at 7:30 p.m. today during a meeting at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Mass. Commissioners will mull whether the 18.5 acres should be rezoned from agricultural to suburban residential uses, and if the property should be platted.

Commission Chairman Charles Jones said the proposed development appeared to be consistent with the requirements the commission would like to see for subdivisions. The site is located in the urban growth area and potential homes would have access to paved roads and rural water meters.

The site also is located outside of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s regulatory floodplain.

“But I would like to find out more about it,” Jones said. “I’d like to know more about the chance for potential flooding and the traffic issues.”

Mears is working with John Selk of Landplan Engineering on the development. Mears didn’t immediately return calls and Selk wasn’t available Tuesday afternoon.

In August, the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission recommended denying the request for rezoning and platting the site, departing a recommendation for approval from their professional staff.