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By Karen Pearlman
..."I have never seen such a destructive project with such negative impacts on the people who live in a community." -- former Supervisor Dianne Jacob, a Jamul resident (photo, left)
July 9, 2025 (San Diego) – The Cottonwood Sand Mine is a wash, at least for now.
After nearly six hours of testimony, presentations and discussion, the San Diego County Planning Commission on Wednesday voted to disapprove a permit for the planned private sand mining operation in Rancho San Diego.
The six-member Planning Commission deadlocked to approve the project, and its tie vote constituted a no-go for mining about 215 acres of the 280-acre golf course site.
“We had a big win today, and it was a little too close for comfort, but 3-3 is a denial,” said Barry Jantz, part of the Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine Group.
Along with dozens of other local residents, former Valle de Oro Planning Group member Josan Feathers spoke at the hearing.
She later expressed surprise that the vote was so colse.
"The County Department of Planning and Land Use had recommended denial of the Cottonwood Major Use Permit on the basis that it couldn't make the 'findings," said Feathers, a civil engineer. "The project was deemed to be harmful to neighborhood character, and the site was unsuitable for the proposed type and intensity of use or development. Half the commissioners seemed to agree, which was enought to deny (it)."
The applicant’s attorney, Jennifer Lynch, gave an animated presentation that showed how the mining operation would be conducted and the land reclamation to follow.
A large contingent of local contractors, builders and members of the local carpenters’ union also spoke in favor of the project.
“We’re not asking you for a General Plan amendment or a zone change, because this use is already planned for and permitted on this site under current zoning designations,” Lynch said.
Lynch focused on the sand mining operation as a provision of a “reliable local source of high-quality aggregate sand” instead of relying on unsustainable imported sand and concern about supply chain disruptions, and provision “for a significantly improved open space reso'urce and other environmental benefits,” including gifting the County nearly 150 acres of open space “at no cost to taxpayers.”
Lynch presented the operation as a project that would improve and preserve in perpetuity the site’s ecological value, transforming a degraded golf course into a biologically rich and functional ecological corridor.
The 12-Year Plan
In plans for nearly a decade, the Cottonwood Sand Mining project has been proposed as a 10-year endeavor, with an extended two years of reclamation after, seeking to extract 4.3 million cubic yards of material -- about 3.8 million cubic yards of that to be produced for market use.
Mining operations show plans to mine more than 200 acres along Willow Glen Drive between Jamacha and Hillsdale roads. Operations would run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; trucks would be on the move from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
The proposal would designate about 148 acres of permanent open space, creating trails and linkages for wildlife species, developers of the project say.
Sand mining provides materials for various industries, primarily in construction and manufacturing. Its most common use is concrete, working with cement and aggregate. It’s also used for mortar and asphalt.
Barry Jantz from the Stop Cottonwood group also shared a video presentation. It explained myriad reasons for the commissioners to deny the project, including impacts that include noise, pollution, increased traffic and fire hazards.
Also part of the group presentation were Rancho San Diego resident Brian Lorenz and former County Supervisor Dianne Jacob (also a former planning commissioner) who has a home in the area.
“I’ve been a part of many land use hearings and in my decades of experience, I have never seen such a destructive project with such negative impacts on the people who live in a community,” Jacob said.
She said she also didn’t agree with the proponent’s point about the need fora local source of sand, and noted that there could be no guarantee that the sand would stay local.
As an example of outsourcing, she said she remembered the escalating cost of garbage disposal in California caused trash to be diverted to sites in Utah and Arizona where it was less expensive.
She said the 150 acres of open space being offered by the applicant is already guaranteed in the county’s General Plan.
Jacob also said that before any use permit may be granted, “it shall be found that the location, size, design and operating characteristics of the proposed use will be compatible with adjacent uses, residences, buildings or structures. The key word is compatible… capable of existing together in harmony… a sand mine is not compatible in any way with adjacent uses.”
In a strange coincidence, a fire broke out in the Rancho San Diego area just after 2 p.m. when the Planning Commission conversation about the project was in its last hour at the County’s Operations Center in San Diego. Many in the 100-plus member audience raced home after getting fire alerts on their phones.
The #SteeleFire came within 50 feet of Lorenz’s home before firefighters were able to contain in.
BOS Appeal is Expected
Jantz said that he expects the developer to appeal the Planning Commission’s vote to the Board of Supervisors, but that residents and others concerned with the mining project “like our prospects with the Board of Supervisors because the voters are talking directly to the people they vote for.”
Jantz noted that two of the supervisors are in charge of the area on either side of the golf course and the reservoir – Joel Anderson and Monica Montgomery-Steppe
“We’re immediately going to circle and get our next plays in order and get people starting now to communicate with them about this,” Jantz said.
The Cottonwood project has been opposed by residents since it was first proposed in 2018. The Major Use Permit for sand mining at the former Cottonwood Golf Club was requested by Cottonwood Cajon Es, LLC, spearheaded by developer Michael Schlesinger.
Schlesinger bought the former golf course in 2015. He also previously developed the Escondido Country Club, an endeavor that had him shut down the golf course to build homes.
The Cottonwood Golf Course site is along the Sweetwater River and is adjacent to homes, schools and businesses in Rancho San Diego, just south of El Cajon. It is also adjacent and directly upstream from a federal wildlife preserve.
Thousands of residents signed petitions and voiced opposition to the project, voicing concerns over water and air pollution, noise, traffic, impacts on local wildlife, potential property value declines and more.
The Valle de Oro Community Planning Group earlier this year voted 11-0 to recommend denying the project. The group also voted 10-1, with one abstention, to not agree with a design exception review to waive the undergrounding overhead utilities along Willow Glen Road.
At a Valle de Oro community meeting in March, residents, business owners and even San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District leadership expressed concerns about potential adverse health effects, environmental impacts and increased traffic along important community thoroughfares.
The meeting was originally scheduled for June 13 but because of technical challenges in the county’s board room, it was moved to July 9.
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