ENCINITAS — The Planning Commission delayed its decision on a proposal to expand the Sanderling Waldorf school in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. After four hours of public testimony and deliberation Aug. 7, the panel voted to continue the matter until Oct. 2.

The school’s planned expansion from 30 to 110 students over the next five years has caused concern among neighbors. Citing increased traffic congestion and noise levels, some of the neighbors also protested the expansion plans two years ago when the commission first considered the application.

The school has leased the Masonic Temple building on Windsor Road just south of Santa Fe Drive for the past eight years. The school proposal calls for increased enrollment to 48 students in the existing classrooms. Phase one of the expansion includes construction of an 8-foot-high wall to contain sound within the playground area and increased capacity to 85 students.

In the final phase, an additional playground and sound-wall in the front of the building and a portable unit to accommodate 3,000 square feet of extra classroom space in the rear of the site would be erected. Enrollment would be capped at 110 students.

In a standing room only commission meeting packed to capacity with school parents and supporters as well as neighbors opposed to the expansion, attendees voiced their concerns. Tensions were high as most of the comments centered on the increasing density of the area and the resulting increase in traffic and noise. In addition to Sanderling, the Cardiff-by-the-Sea neighborhood is home to two schools, a daycare facility and the Elk’s Lodge, which hosts several nighttime functions.

Despite additional traffic and noise studies commissioned by the school showing only a slight impact on the neighborhood, residents voiced opposition to the plans. “This isn’t the right site for a school of this kind,” Victoria Bearden, who lives near the site, said. “The noise and traffic studies are not what our experience is.”

While parents and administrators have admitted in the past that the location was not their first choice, they remained committed to increasing the enrollment and expanding the current facilities.

Parents and teachers showed support for the proposal by wearing T-shirts bearing the school’s logo. Mary Ann Stone, a Sanderling School parent and volunteer, told the commission that the school has made every effort to comply with the city’s requirements to mitigate increased traffic and noise by staggering school hours, agreeing to build sound barriers and paying for expensive sound and traffic studies.

“I am hopeful that the Planning Commission will approve the permit,” Stone said. “We believe that we have been a good neighbor.” Part of the Waldorf educational experience is to become a socially responsible member of the community, she added.