KB Home's plan to build 122 townhomes in Rancho Bernardo's business district advanced Thursday, Oct. 15, when the San Diego Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval.

The decision reverses the Rancho Bernardo Community Planning Board's unanimous opposition from September and sends the project, called City View, to the San Diego City Council for a final vote. Sara Osborn, a city project development manager, said the council will not consider it before December, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

City View would replace a five-building office complex on 5.5 acres at 11818 to 11858 Bernardo Plaza Court. The plan calls for 50 two-bedroom, 50 three-bedroom and 22 four-bedroom units ranging from 1,200 to 2,200 square feet, with 13 designated as affordable. Each unit would have two garage spaces, and the development would include 17 guest parking spots.

Planning Commission Vice Chairperson Matthew Boomhower, who made the motion to recommend approval, called Rancho Bernardo a highly desirable, well-resourced area and said KB Home should be applauded for opening new opportunities for people to move into the neighborhood. Commissioners also pointed to cost savings and environmental benefits of building where roads, water lines and other infrastructure already exist.

The Rancho Bernardo Community Planning Board voted unanimously in September to oppose the project, citing insufficient parking, strain on local services and incompatibility with the community's master plan. The Rancho Bernardo Community Council also opposes it, according to planning board member Emily Liebscher, who spoke during public comment at the Oct. 15 commission hearing.

Liebscher questioned how City View would fit into Rancho Bernardo's master-planned structure. She said residents of the new development would not have access to HOA-provided services that other Rancho Bernardo neighborhoods receive. She also raised concerns about road conditions, power outages and a play area she said would be too small, warning that children could end up in adjacent commercial parking lots.

KB Home Senior Vice President John Abboud said the residential project would generate about 732 daily vehicle trips, compared with roughly 1,155 for the existing office use. He estimated monthly HOA dues below $450, compared with more than $650 at three other Rancho Bernardo developments he named.

Speakers on both sides focused on parking. Planning board member Jim Nadlonek warned that 17 guest spaces would fill up, pushing visitors onto nearby private property. Corbin Smith, a pediatric dentist whose practice sits on an adjacent lot, said overflow parking already strains his business.

Rancho Bernardo resident Dexter Oliver raised air-quality and noise concerns, noting the site sits within 500 feet of a freeway. The California Air Resources Board recommends against homes and playgrounds at that distance, Oliver said. He added that the project's noise study predicts up to 72 decibels at freeway-facing walls, above the city's 45-decibel indoor standard.

"Filters protect indoor air, not a child on the play structure or a grandparent on their fitness loop," Oliver said.

Ron Bamberger, president of the Bernardo Town Center Property Owners Association, spoke in favor, saying he supports replacing what he called "dysfunctional office space" with housing. Luisana González, speaking for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the project addresses the need for moderate-income "missing-middle housing" near transit and employers.

The City Council has not announced a hearing date. Osborn said the project will not come before the council before December.