CARMEL VALLEY — A group of more than 30 concerned residents made their voices heard at the Carmel Valley Planning Board’s Sept. 11 meeting, as the board took another look at a proposed development that is stirring up controversy with some of its neighbors.

The proposal is known as The Village at Pacific Highlands Ranch, a Pardee Homes project located on Village Center Loop Road just north of Canyon Crest Academy High School.

According to Ron Brockhoff of Pardee Homes, the 27.5-acre site would consist of 292 condominium units and 215,000 square feet of retail space, including a grocery store, a movie theater and a public transit center.

A parking structure consisting of four floors above ground and two below ground would be included, and a 3-acre parcel of land on the site would also be sold to the city of San Diego for use as a public library, although it has not been determined when that would be built.

“We currently think we will be able to open this for sale and rental to the retail public around 2013,” Brockhoff said.

But many residents who are living in the nearby Airoso housing complex aren’t very happy with the current plans. Airoso, which was built in 2005 and consists of 230 condominium units, is located across the street to the east of the site.

Dean Dubey, a representative from Airoso’s homeowners association, said he was concerned about the size and placement of the proposed movie theater.

“It’s going to be twice the size of the cinema at Del Mar Highlands Town Center,” Dubey said. “We already have youth problems from the nearby high school … We’re also worried about traffic impacts.”

Christian Clews, a member of the Carmel Valley Planning Board, echoed concerns about the placement of the theater — the back of which would be located only 25 feet from existing residential units in the northeast section of the site.

“I like a lot of things about the plan, but I’m concerned about the cinema’s proximity to those nearby residential buildings and the youth-oriented impact that it would have on those residents,” Clews said. “If you have 120 people going into the theaters with 15 to 20 minutes between start times, it’s going to be a high-intensity area.”

Ted Shaw of Latitude 33 Planning and Engineering, the firm in charge of design and architecture for the project, said he felt The Village plan has accommodated requests from both the city of San Diego and the Airoso complex.

“Airoso specifically asked that we reconfigure one of the office buildings,” Shaw aid. “We reoriented it more toward the loop road so there is more of a sense of space there.”

He added that at the request of the city the project’s walkways were expanded to encourage more pedestrian activity. The village square, which would include a park, was reconfigured to provide more of an open feel.

“At the suggestion of the city, we moved the transit center further down so it’s alongside Village Center Loop Road,” Shaw said. “Hopefully that will make it more efficient.”

But Dubey said more work is needed on other structures within the design. “There are problems with the scale of this project in comparison to the surrounding area,” he said. “I don’t see the rush to complete it.”

The Carmel Valley Planning Board voted to support the project design in April and Pardee Homes was seeking a Site Development Permit at the board’s Sept. 11 meeting. But the board voted to continue the review process until its next meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Carmel Valley Library.

“This is a different project from what we’ve seen before,” said Frisco White, chair of the Carmel Valley Planning Board. “I’m not that uncomfortable with moving forward with what we have, but I think it deserves more time to address these new issues.”

Board member Ken Farinsky was in support of the updated design by Pardee. Fellow board member Anne Harvey, however, supported further public review.

“If the people want more changes made, I will support that,” Harvey said.

Brockhoff and Shaw reminded the board that several years of hard work have gone into the design of The Village.

“We’re more than willing to explore options, but we think we addressed a lot of the issues that came from the city of San Diego and Airoso,” Brockhoff said.

Dubey said he hopes the concerns of the residents and the community will be addressed. “I’m very appreciative of Pardee Homes for listening to us,” he said. “We just need further discussion about the scale of this project to come to a better solution.”