Cottonwood Sand Mine

COTTONWOOD SAND MINE PROJECT BRINGS STRONG OPPOSITION FROM EAST COUNTY RESIDENTS

By: Jessyka Heredia

Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/live/EfC-xnCUzmo?feature=share

 

July 25, 2023 (El Cajon)—Hundreds of residents showed up Tuesday evening to a public meeting held at Hillsdale Middle School, convened by The County of San Diego Planning Commission regarding a revised Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the controversial Cottonwood sand mine proposal.  Those present in the packed room showed solidarity in opposition to the sand mine project currently under consideration by the County of San Diego on a 214 acre section of Cottonwood golf course in El Cajon.


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COTTONWOOD SAND MINE REVISED DRAFT EIR IS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT; MEETING SET ON JULY 25

By Miriam Raftery

Photo; Left, Cottonwood Golf Course pond, before it was drained; right, a sand mining operation

July 5, 2023 (Rancho San Diego) – The County of San Diego has issued a revised draft environmental impact report (EIR) on the proposed Cottonwood sand mine. View documents and details

The public has until August 14 at 4 p..m. to submit comments on the revised EIR.

Comments can be sent via email to Christopher.Jacobs@sdcounty.ca.gov.  The County will also hold an in-person public meeting regarding the Recirculated Draft EIR on July 25, 2023, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Hillsdale Middle School (1301 Brabham Street, El Cajon).


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COMMUNITY GROUPS BLAST DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT ON COTTONWOOD SAND MINE PROPOSAL

East County News Service

File photo: Cottonwood Golf Course, site of the proposed sand mine along the Sweetwater River

March 7, 2022 (Rancho San Diego) – Several community groups have sent letters to the county sharply criticizing the draft EIR on the proposal for a controversial 10-year open pit sand mining operation proposed on the site of the Cottonwood Golf Course.  Groups providing detailed comments on the inadequacy of the report include the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, the Sierra Club, the Valle de Oro Community Planning Group and Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine, a coalition of concerned residents.


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300 COMMUNITY MEMBERS JOIN COUNTY VIRTUAL MEETING ON PROPOSED COTTONWOOD SAND MINE; VAST MAJORITY VOICED OPPOSITION

By Henri Migala 

Update: The public comment period has been extended to Monday, Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. Comments can be sent to Robert.Hingtgen@SDcounty.ca.gov

 

January 31, 2022 (Rancho San Diego) -- The County of San Diego held an online meeting January 19 in response to a request for a Major Use Permit for sandmining at the Cottonwood Golf Course along the Sweetwater River. The property owner’s proposal requires an environmental review and public input. Hundreds weighed in, despite major technical issues.

 

The in-person public meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday, January 12, 2022 was cancelled due to health concerns related to COVID19. However the public can still weight in via the comment link or at a February 1 meeting of the Valle de Oro Planning Group.


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STOP COTTONWOOD SAND MINE ORGANIZERS SAY DRAFT EIR IS “FLAWED,” FAILS TO ADDRESS MAJOR IMPACTS ON COMMUNITY

 

By Miriam Raftery

Updates:  The deadline for public comments has been extended to Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. Send comments to Robert  Hingtgen at Robert.Hingtgen@sdcounty.ca.gov.

The Jan. 12 meeting referenced in the video has been cancelled due to COVID-19.  The Jan. 19 virtual meeting will still be held.

January 11, 2022 (Rancho San Diego) – The Draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Cottonwood Sand Mining project fails to address serious impacts to the community, say organizers of the Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine effort-- and they are urging the public to speak out.

“We believe the Project DEIR is a flawed document that does not adequately analyze the significant impacts of the Project to the people, wildlife, water, air, and roads of the community,” Elizabeth Urquhart stated in an email to ECM.  “The DEIR does not propose adequate mitigation or alternatives to address those impacts.”

Barry Jantz contends the project is also incompatible with the county’s general plan as well as the Valle de Oro Community Plan, thus also violating the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

In an exclusive interview with ECM aired on KNSJ, Urquhart and Jantz, organizers of efforts to oppose the massive project, shared their concerns and urged the public to speak out at virtual public meetings or via email before the February 14 deadline for public comment.


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COUNTY RELEASE DRAFT EIR ON COTTONWOOD SAND MINING PROJECT: PUBLIC MEETINGS SET IN JANUARY

By Miriam Raftery

Images via Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine

 

Update January 9: Due to a COVID surge the January 12 meeting has been cancelled. The virtual meeting on January 19 at 7 p.m. can be accessed at this link  https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/pds/ceqa/MUP-18-023.html or this link: https://bit/ly/CottonwoodSandMine or you can call (619) 343-2539 and provide conference ID number 972 237 701#.

 

December 28, 2021 (San Diego) – A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is now available on the controversial proposed Cottonwood Sand Mining project along the Sweetwater River on the Cottonwood Golf Club site. There are several opportunities for the public to weigh in, including an in-person meeting January 12 at Hillsdale Middle School in Rancho San Diego and an online/phone teleconference January 19. You can also submit comments via mail or email, which must be received by February 14 at 4 p.m.

 

The project at 2131 Willow Glen Road would extract around 6.4 million tons of sand over 10 years from 214.4 acres. The developer contends the sand is needed for construction and road building in our region, to avoid costly importing of sand.  

 

The project has drawn opposition from thousands of local residents concerned over harm to wildlife in the adjacent national wildlife preserve as well as impacts on residents including traffic, noise, and air quality.

"We will review the DEIR with diligence to see if any of the community concerns have been addressed," said StopCottonwoodSandMine.org Board Chair Elizabeth Urquhart. “Most importantly, although it's been a long wait since the project was proposed in 2018, the community needs to know it is now the right time to speak up and register concerns over the community impacts, despite this being the holiday season. We need our neighbors to understand we cannot sit still as we continue to voice our opposition. We ask residents to inform their friends and neighbors to sign up at our website. We need to all work together to inform the community and to ultimately stop this sand mine.” Their concerns are documented at  https://www.stopcottonwoodsandmine.com/

 

Below are details provided by the County’s Planning and Development Services Department on the DEIR and how you can make your voice heard. Be sure to reference the project name and number in your comments.


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PROPOSED COTTONWOOD SAND MINE PROJECT DRAWS UNIFIED OPPOSITION FROM RANCHO SAN DIEGO RESIDENTS AT SCOPING MEETING

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

Meeting audio: tinyurl.com/RSDCottonwoodMine11042019

Photo: Elizabeth Urquhart, Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine, speaks to a full house during scoping meeting.

November 14, 2019 (Rancho San Diego) -- If the proposal to replace Cottonwood Golf Course with a sand mine were to be decided by local Rancho San Diego residents, Beverly Hills investor and developer Michael Schlesinger and applicant Greg Brown would be hearing a loud chorus of “nay” votes.

Some 300 local residents crowded into the multi-purpose room at Hillsdale Middle School on Monday night, November 4th to vent their strong opposition to the project in a public scoping meeting called by the County of San Diego Planning and Development Services Department. View county handout and fact sheet. The scoping meeting is required to get public input on what should be included in an upcoming Environmental Impact report.


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COUNTY LETTER ON COTTONWOOD SAND MINE RECOGNIZES SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITY CONCERNS

East County News Service

Photos: Map of proposed project; wildlife photos by Debbie Ekhaml, including raccoons in adjacent Sweetwater National Wildlife Refuge and mule deer in Jamul ecological preserve are among wildlife species that could be negatively impacted

July 13, 2019 (Rancho San Diego) – Significant concerns raised by the community over the proposal for a 10-year sand mining operation at Cottonwood Golf Course have been confirmed with the release of the County of San Diego’s Scoping Letter on the project.


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COTTONWOOD SAND MINE ON AGENDA FEB. 12 FOR JAMUL-DULZURA PLANNING GROUP

 
 
By Miriam Raftery

January 17, 2019 (Jamul) – EnviroMine, the developer of a proposed sand mine at the Cottonwood Golf Course site in Rancho San Diego, is slated to make a presentation to the Jamul-Dulzura Community Plannning Group. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 12th at 7:30 p.m. at Jamul Primary School's Auditorium at 14567 Lyons Valley Road (at the corner of Lyons Valley Road and Skyline Truck Trail).

Note: This location has changed from the usual venue to accommodate a large anticipated crowd.


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NEARLY 2,200 RESIDENTS EXPRESS OPPOSITION TO COTTONWOOD SAND MINE

 

East County News Service

Photo: Cottonwood Golf, site of proposed sand mine

December 21, 2018 (Rancho San Diego) - In a significant show of early community strength, the Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine Committee this week submitted over 2,100 petition signatures to the County of San Diego from area residents opposed to the plan for a 10-12 year sand mining operation on the current site of the Cottonwood Golf Course in Rancho San Diego. 


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OPPONENTS OF SAND MINE PROPOSED AT COTTONWOOD GOLF IN RANCHO SAN DIEGO PACK COMMUNITY MEETING

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

Miriam Raftery, Editor, also contributed to this report

Initial public comments deadline is Dec. 19

Hear audio of meeting

December 5, 2018 (Rancho San Diego) -- If a large contingent of residents in Rancho San Diego and Jamul have their say, a proposed sand mine in their community won’t get built. Over 200 residents opposed to a sand mining project that would replace Cottonwood Golf Course on Willow Glen Road engulfed the meeting room at the Rancho San Diego Library last week, overflowing into the lobby and onto a patio. 

Public comments and a petition

Initial public comments are being accepted until December 19th by the County’s Land Use Environmental Planner, Bronwyn Brown, at Bronwyn.Brown@sdcounty.ca.gov as part of the official scoping process.

Barry Jantz, spokesperson for the opposition, told the crowd that a petition to gather signatures against the project is available for printing and circulating at the website www.StopCottonwoodSandMine.com. The group circulated a flyer and asked that petitions be submitted to the Stop Cottonwood Group by December 15th.


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