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Plans for a massive development north of Tucson may be preliminary, but visions of new homes, businesses and possibly even a resort on state trust land are stirring conflict.

Citizen opposition to the 15,900-home development next to the unincorporated community of Catalina appears to be growing as Pima County officials show dissatisfaction with the Arroyo Grande project.

"I'd just like to say we're not on board," Pima County Supervisor Ann Day told a gathering of residents in Catalina late Tuesday.

Her remarks came after assurances from the Arizona State Land Department and Oro Valley — which wants to annex the land — that the three jurisdictions were working together to address worries about a development that could house about 38,000 residents.

"The county will be opposing any annexation agreement," Day said to applause from an audience of mostly Catalina residents.

More than 100 people gathered for a State Land Department presentation on the development.

Several residents aired concerns about the potential negative impact of the development on water, wildlife corridors, roads, transportation, schools and the overall rural lifestyle of Catalina.

"I would like to see it not happen," Milan Murchek said about Arroyo Grande. He has lived in Catalina with his wife, Patricia, since 1965.

Michele Muench, a State Land Department representative in Tucson, repeatedly told residents that it could be years before houses start taking shape.

"We're at the very early stages," she said.

The development would span 14 square miles bounded by Oro Valley on the south, Pinal County on the north, Oracle Road on the east and the Tortolita Mountains on the west.

Supervisor Day said Pima County had injected itself into the planning process in an effort to effect change on a development she has serious reservations about.

If Pima County were leading the project, she said, officials would work early on to ensure that water, roads and other area infrastructure could adequately handle the development.

"If you do annex this area, we want to be part of the annexation agreement," she said, addressing Oro Valley officials at the meeting.

"The water and the open (space) remain huge issues and I haven't heard any ideas, any recommendations on how they're going to resolve that," she said later. "It seems like they're putting the cart before the horse."

Oro Valley Mayor Paul Loomis did not directly respond to Day. But he reassured the audience that the town is working to alleviate worries about the development, including those of some of its own residents in Sun City Vistoso just south of Arroyo Grande.

He highlighted the plan's inclusion of 68 percent of open space, something the State Land Department has called unprecedented.

The move, Loomis said to sneers and laughter, "has taken some of the uncertainty out of your future."

Day retorted: "If it hadn't been for the county, we wouldn't be at 68 percent."

Oro Valley Town Manager David Andrews later said that although the county's participation is valued, "there's no reason" for the county to be a signatory to the annexation development agreement.

"It would be a transaction between the State Land Department and the town of Oro Valley," he said.

Andrews noted he and Loomis met with Day Wednesday to allay her concerns.

"I really think that there was a misunderstanding," Andrews said, adding that Oro Valley wants the county to continue its involvement.

"We all live on the Northwest Side and we have a vested interest as to how things develop," he said. "We want it to develop well."

Day said there was no misunderstanding.

The more than 6,100 acres the plan sets aside as open space, allowing for preservation of a wildlife corridor and the protection of the land's washes, remains a sticking point, she said.

Day echoed previous statements by State Land Department officials that how open space will be laid out ultimately depends on how Oro Valley zones the land once it takes control over it.

"There is no guarantee that the 68 percent will remain open space other than Oro Valley saying 'trust us,'" she said.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry later said the county won't support any land-use plan that is inconsistent with the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

At 68 percent, Arroyo Grande exceeds the conversation plan's required two-thirds of open space. But like Day and Catalina residents, Huckelberry said he is concerned the State Land Department has not defined what that open space would be.

He also dislikes the idea of a resort. "It's an exploitation. If you're going to exploit it, we need to have a say in it."