When Marsha Davis moved to St. Tammany Parish several years ago, she settled into a single-story ranch home on one acre near Mandeville, close enough to the trappings of city life but still secluded enough to see deer or rabbits trotting through her backyard.

Now, she says, she’s fighting to keep that life.

Davis is one of a handful of homeowners in Westwood Estates, located off Sharp Road, trying to block a proposed zoning change they say may double or triple the population around their homes and bring thousands of unwanted cars and headaches. She’s handed out flyers, spoke with the media and even set up a Web site www.sharproad.org and will voice complaints when zoning officials discuss the matter at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a public meeting at Koop Drive in Mandeville.

“This is what people moved over (to the Northshore) for, the quality of life, the beauty of a natural environment, but with some of these proposed zoning changes, St. Tammany will be transformed into an area of concrete and buildings,” Davis said.

It’s a complaint echoed dozens of times in recent months as five areas of the parish — the northwest, southwest, northeast, southcentral and southeast — are undergoing massive rezoning overhauls to balance the Northshore’s surging population with quality of life.

During the meetings, different and new zoning classifications are pitched to area residents and developers in hopes on settling for what best fits the parish’s master zoning plan, “New Directions 2025,” approved nine years ago.

Among the suggestions for Davis’ southwest area along Sharp Road — a major cut through between Louisiana Highway 59 and U.S. Highway 190 — is a high-density classification, TND (traditional neighborhood development). It allows eight condos, 20 apartments or at least five homes per acre, Davis said. The potential profit has lured at least one company to offer a proposal that includes anywhere from 2,000, to 4,000 homesteads, including mixtures of apartments, condos and homes, she said.

The coalition is fighting for another possibility, zoning classification A-2, which requires one house per acre, like her subdivision.

“We want to keep (the zoning) consistent with the area,” Robert Racine, a main organizer of the coalition, said. “It’s about making smart choices, to be compatible with area’s character.”

For Davis, though, it’s more than compatibility. She worries about an influx of school children, runoff and infrastructure demands. Mostly though, she worries that if approved, one day the extra traffic that will cut through her neighborhood will give her fits trying to back out of her driveway.

“That’s just not fair,” she said.

There is, however, still time to fight. Even if the Zoning Commission approves the high density zoning change, it must still go before the Parish Council in January for more public hearings.