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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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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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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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 
By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor
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