Printer-friendly version
By Paul LevikowKaren Pearlman contributed to this report
Sept. 10, 2025 (San Diego County) – The Cottonwood Sand Mine project in Rancho San Diego was rejected unanimously Wednesday by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
In a packed board room, the supervisors heard from more than 100 speakers in a span of over two hours, including more than a dozen by phone.
The vote apparently means the end of a years-running saga for East County residents since sand mining along the Sweetwater River was first proposed seven years ago.
In July, the San Diego County Planning Commission voted to deny a Major Use Permit and Reclamation Plan for the project. That led the project applicant, Cottonwood Cajon ES, LLC, to appeal the decision to the Board of Supervisors.
The project proposed converting part of the Cottonwood Golf Club on Willow Glen Drive in unincorporated El Cajon into a 10-year sand mining operation, with an additional two-year reclamation period.
Once word got out that the plan would involve sand excavation and processing on 214 acres of a 280-acre site, and that the operation would run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday for 10 years, opposition proved fast, furious and focused.
The golf course is located in the Valle De Oro community planning district -- the area closest to the proposed mine -- but residents from Spring Valley, Jamul, Rancho San Diego, Dulzura, Casa de Oro, Mt. Helix, Dehesa and surrounding areas organized behind the newly formed group Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine.
Soon, East County Tribal nations, environmental groups, the San Miguel Fire District and other organizations joined the effort.
Thousands signed petitions opposing the open mine, citing fire safety and evacuations, health concerns, traffic impact, noise, air quality, biological resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and tribal cultural resources.
Supervisors take a stand
District 4 Supervisor Monica Montgomery-Steppe (photo screenshot, below right), who represents neighborhoods in the area along with District 2 Supervisor Joel Anderson, who also speaks for East County residents, expressed concern over the intensity of activity at the site.
“We always have to weigh the benefits of a project and put that up against the harm that a project could do,” Montgomery-Steppe said.
When one speaker mentioned that he appreciated Anderson's support, Anderson made it clear to his fellow supervisors that he had not formed any opinion on the project, only that he had listened to all perspectives on it.
North County-area Supervisor Jim Desmond of District 5 has been a vocal proponent of myriad developments through the years. He started his comments by sharing that he “struggled with this one,” but finished his thoughts by saying, “it's just not a good fit.”
“I did weigh the pros and cons back and forth,”Desmond said. “There's no doubt that we need this resource, we need more housing... I’m in favor of of reducing though our reliance on imported aggregate in lowering construction costs. I mean everything we do seems to add more and more and more costs to a house, but even if we approve the project... there’s no guarantee or condition that the sand is going to stay here, and I'm sure the owner operator will want to get as much as possible for it. He's a business person and they’ll get as much as they can on the open market, wherever that is.”
Although Desmond (photo screenshot, below left) represents North County residents and businesses, he said he made a special trip to the golf course to see things for himself.
“I’m concerned the project doesn’t fit well there with the community character, the noise for the sand extraction, the processing, the heavy truck traffic, and it’s going to be a dramatic change from a golf course,” he said. “I'm sensitive to the issues raised by Sycuan. We want to work well with out Tribal nations within the region.”
Tribal Elder and Sycuan Councilman Jamie LaBrake told supervisors that Wednesday’s hearing was a critical moment, not just for Sycuan, but for all of his fellow Kumeyaay tribes and tribal members.
“The proposal…would be devastating to the Kumeyaay people, our culture, heritage, archeology, and our ancestral human remains,” said LaBrake, also the former
Director of the Sycuan Cultural Department.
“Records will indicate my people have existed here for tens and tens of thousands of years. We are significant. We are still here and those resources are dear to my people. We are adamantly opposed to this project.”
The other side of the matter
Public comment on the agenda item began with a presentation by the project applicant urging the Board to grant the appeal and approve the sand mine.
“In 10 years, there can be no doubt that this site and the region will be better off,” project attorney Jennifer Lynch said. “At project completion, the County gains 148 acres of protected, pristine open space. There will be no air quality, dust, noise, water quality or traffic impact.”
Some in the audience vocally disagreed with Lynch through booing, grumbling and jeers, prompting Board Chairwoman Terra Lawson-Remer to warn the crowd against outbursts and to maintain decorum or face removal from the chambers.
Local Carpenters Union representatives and other members of the building industry spoke in favor of the project and were met with similar opposition.
“We must choose growth progress and the opportunity for everyone, everyone, not just a few people, and respectfully, living on a couple streets nearby,” said Jesse Garcia of the Western States Carpenters Union Local 619 in San Diego.
Dr. Mark Laska (photo screenshot, below, right), founder and president of Great Ecology, a locally based ecological consulting group, said the reclamation efforts planned for the location, were going to be “phenomenal.”
“We've done a highly detailed, scientific evaluation on the site.” Laska said. "We've worked on half a million acres in over 25 years in business. This is the perfect site for ecological and habitat restoration. Post-project, the project will look phenomenal... with high, high ecological quality, extremely valuable wetland habitat."
Stop Cottonwood weighs in
Members of the Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine group gave a presentation that included context from former District 2 Supervisor Dianne Jacob and a wrap up by consultant Barry Jantz, who helped found the Stop Cottonwood organization.
“I’ve been a part of many land use hearings in my decades of experience I can tell you I have never seen such a destructive project with such negative impacts on the people who live in a community,” she said.
Stop Cottonwood President Elizabeth Urquhart told the supervisors she was appearing on behalf of people who she said have been fighting against the sand mine since 2018.
“We ask that you join thousands of residents, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, Sierra Club, three community planning groups, community organizations, the San Miguel Fire Protection District, County planning staff and the Planning Commission in denying the appeal and denying this project,” she told Supervisors.
Jantz, who introduced himself as a former union laborer and retired union journeyman carpenter, said that the impact goes beyond nearly 500 homes, more than a dozen apartment complexes and an elementary school that are within a quarter-mile of the project.
“Rest assured, the devastating effects of an open pit industruial mine operation will reach far beyond a quarter mile, with no guarantee the project lasts only 10 years."
Jantz also said that the locale within the flood plain of the Sweetwater River means that compromised water quality and risk of flooding for about 200,000 people in Chula Vista, National City and Bonita, were real concerns.
Leonard Villarreal, a resident of Jamul for almost 30 years, said the project would not be like a golf ball hitting the street.
“If the sand mine is approved, it would be like an asteroid hitting our community,” he said. “In my view, approval would be the Tijuana sewage crisis 2.0.”
Kathleen Hedberg (screenshot photo, left), representing the Grossmont-Mount Helix Improvement Association, said not only would the community of thousands of residents be directly impacted, "This project conflicts with the General Plan, Community Plan and the Rancho San Diego Specific Plan."
Like Villareal, Hedberg, who is on the Helix Water District board, brought up the serious polluted water challenges facing San Diego and Tijuana.
“Think about this Tijuana sewage crisis at the border," Hedberg said. “We do not need to have our own environmental hazard in our community."
On his Facebook page on Sept. 11, Jantz shared some additional thoughts:
"I just want to say thank you to those who told me over the last seven years:
-That we couldn't win against a Beverly Hills billionaire with great connections.
-That the Board of Supervisors were "in the bag" in support of this project.
-That a relatively ragtag group of community advocates couldn't overcome a well-oiled and well-funded machine.
Thank you. You inspired me -- and all of us at StopCottonwoodSandMine.org -- to work hard for our community.
To those who say owners have a right to develop their property as they see fit... I definitely agree and always have, within reason.
They also have a right to look into the zoning and restrictions on a property they plan to purchase to see any hurdles and risks to achieving their plans. No doubt that was done here. Risk taken, reality accepted.
When all was said and done, the Supervisors saw the project the same way we have since 2018. Incompatible with the community and inappropriate for the area, thus in violation of the General Plan and community plans.
Thanks to the community and all those who supported us."
Recent comments