There’s an axiom in City Hall that vacant fields in Lawrence won’t stay vacant forever.

That’s why Jason Pendleton said he and his neighbors near Overland Drive and Eldridge Street didn’t expect their pretty little pasture view to be permanent. But they did expect the approximately 10-acre tract of ground near their homes to be developed with single-family houses.

Now, developers say they want about six acres of the property — known as the old Doolittle farm — to be rezoned for duplexes.

What’s to follow at Tuesday’s City Commission meeting is an old-fashioned neighborhood versus developer conflict that once was common at City Hall before the economic slowdown quieted the city’s construction scene.

On one side, neighbors say developers are trying to change the rules after the fact.

“I can assure you that I would not have bought this house if that property was zoned as multifamily,” Pendleton said of the 10 acres, which sits at the intersection of Eldridge and Seele Way.

On the other side, developers say neighbors will be surprised at how well the development fits into the existing neighborhood.

“If this project has any impact at all on adjacent property values or on the quality life in the area, it will be to improve those things,” said Landplan Engineering’s Tim Herndon, who is representing the developers.

City commissioners will have a host of conflicting statements to wade through. The city’s planning staff is recommending the development be rejected. City planners say the inclusion of duplexes goes against the city’s long-range plan, which lists the area as suitable for low to very low residential development. Duplex zoning, staff members said, generally is regarded as medium density development.

But developers have disagreed with that assessment, and the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission last month recommended approval of the project.

Since then, neighbors adjacent to the proposed development have gathered enough signatures to file a formal protest petition. With the petition filed, the project must now win approval from four of the five city commissioners to move forward.

The project is complicated by the current economic downturn. The property currently is zoned to allow 41 single-family homes, but no duplexes. Developers said the project needs to include duplexes to create more affordable housing options that the real estate market desires.

“The market is a reality that always must be addressed,” Herndon said.

But Pendleton has done his research, and said there are plenty of examples of moderately priced duplexes in Lawrence that aren’t selling either.

“I don’t buy that argument whatsoever,” Pendleton said. “We are in the middle of an economic recession and nothing is selling well right now.”

Commissioners meet at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.