The Suffolk Planning Commission on Tuesday voted to recommend a site at the intersection of Pioneer Road and U.S. Route 58 for a new elementary school.

The decision was opposed by nearby neighbors who came to the public hearing in council chambers to express concerns about traffic and drainage issues on the site.

“The land’s too wet,” said Charles Daughtrey, who lives on Pioneer Road. “If it rains two inches, you’ve got a lake.”

Daughtrey and others suggested putting the school in the village of Holland, near the ballfields, or on the current site of Southwestern Elementary School. Daughtrey said the school system could then use the money that would be spent on traffic and safety improvements to give teachers raises.

“We need a school, but not there,” he said.

The school would be designed to serve 700 students and would be modeled after the two-story Hillpoint Elementary School.

According to a staff report by the planning department, many traffic improvements on Holland Road would be needed to make the site viable. Right- and left-turn lanes would be constructed, and a traffic light would be placed at the intersection of Holland and Pioneer roads. School zone signs would warn drivers to slow down.

But the nearby residents cautioned that would not be enough.

“To me, it’s just a major hazard to put a school right on a major road,” said Roxanne Francis, who also lives on Pioneer Road. “It may be a route, but people treat it like an interstate. We’ve got trucks coming down 58 doing 65 miles an hour.”

Members of the Planning Commission also expressed concerns about drainage, but Dave France of Kimley-Horn and Associates assured the planners that he did not see any major drainage concerns with the site.

“This site is not the worst that I’ve seen,” he said, noting that the firm analyzed 18 different sites for the School Board. “I just encourage you not to be too concerned with that.”

He said some of the other sites had better drainage but were poorly suited for other reasons. He also noted concerns about the size of the site in the village of Holland and said building there likely would require buying and demolishing owner-occupied properties.

“We felt that was not the thing to do,” he said.

Among other concerns of the residents who spoke was an active rail line to the southeast of the site. However, France said that would be mitigated with a six-foot fence, as well as placing the storm water management pond and bus parking area on that side of the school.

Responding to questions from planners, Superintendent Deran Whitney said the Hillpoint model had been chosen before the site was agreed upon because School Board members felt like the design worked.

The sole vote against a recommendation for approval came from Commissioner Jim Vacalis, who said he cast his vote because there had been no community involvement in selecting that specific site and because it is not located in an urban growth area or in a village.

“The way I read the comprehensive plan, it doesn’t fit,” he said.

But other commissioners said it was time to move ahead on the process of building the school, which has been mulled over for decades.

“I don’t think any location is going to be absolutely perfect,” Commissioner Thomas Savage said.

The approval process now moves to City Council on March 21.