Controversial Cottonwood Sand Mine Heads to San Diego County Planning Commission

From Barry Jantz

Following years of growing public opposition, the controversial Cottonwood Sand Mine proposal is now on its way to San Diego County Planning Commission. Because of this, the local planning group will be meeting as the community is again called to action. That’s the Valle do Oro CPG which will meet on March 18 at the Rancho San Diego Library, technically in El Cajon.

Following a more than six year process, including thousands of members of the public signing opposition petitions, expressing concerns at several public meetings, and sending hundreds of letters detailing the many significant safety, environmental, and community impacts, the proposal is now making its way to County Planning Commission.

While the Planning Commission is tentatively slated to consider the project application and EIR in April, the Valle de Oro Community Planning Group will meet Tuesday night, March 18, to finalize a recommendation to the County.

Valle de Oro Community Planning Group – Public Meeting
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 7:00 p.m.
Rancho San Diego Library
11555 Via Rancho San Diego
El Cajon, CA 92019

The Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine Committee will present its opposition to the project during the meeting. The Committee is expressing continued concerns that a Major Use Permit for a more than 10-year open pit sand mining operation — on the site of the Cottonwood Golf Course along the Sweetwater River — is out of character with the already established Rancho San Diego community, made up of nearby homes, schools, and businesses. The project is also inconsistent with the County General Plan and Community Specific Plan.

The Committee is calling on the thousands of individuals who have signed up online and previously expressed opposition to the project to again take action by expressing their opposition to the Planning Commission.

For more information go here.
Detailed Background:

The Cottonwood sand mine is proposed by New West Investment and investor Michael Schlesinger, who purchased Cottonwood Golf Course in 2015, four years after the golf course filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As originally filed, the proposal is to mine 4.7 million cubic yards with approximately 3.8 million cubic yards (5.7 million tons) of construction aggregate produced over ten years, in phases with reclamation planned after each phase. Approximately 214.4 acres of the approximately 280-acre site are proposed for extractive use. The project application was filed in November 2018.

In the case of the Major Use Permit sought by the developer, the detailed list of requirements previously released by the County underscores the same concerns expressed by the community regarding a long-term mine along the Sweetwater River, most notably in the middle of an established residential neighborhood surrounded by homes, schools and businesses.

Those concerns, detailed at www.stopcottonwoodsandmine.org, include traffic, safety and noise, health hazards, impacts on the environment, and decreased property values.

Among the Major Project Issues identified by County Planning & Development Services:

Consistency with the San Diego County General Plan, along with the Valle De Oro Community Plan and Rancho San Diego Specific Plan – County “staff cannot move forward with a recommendation of approval until the project is found consistent with all applicable General Plan and community plan policies.”

Land Use/Community Character Consistency – “The character of the area consists of residential, recreational, civic and open space uses, and the project request is for a sand mining, an extractive use … The Rancho Specific Plan identifies the golf course serving as a buffer area and providing a larger setback to sensitive habitat areas. In order to assess the potential impacts to community character a land use and community character analysis shall be prepared…”

Major Use Permit Findings – The location, size, design, and operating characteristics of the proposed use must “be compatible with adjacent uses, residents, buildings, or structures.” Among other things, consideration must be given to “the harmful effect, if any, upon desirable neighborhood character; the generation of traffic and the capacity and physical character of surrounding streets; (and) the suitability of the site for the type and intensity of use or development which is proposed.”

Biological Resource Constraints – The site contains jurisdictional waters of the State of California and the United States, including protected wetlands, requiring approval from State and Federal resource agencies. “Several federally endangered and/or threatened species have been identified on the project site or within the vicinity of the project.”

Given the sensitivity of the area, the agencies that must provide project approval, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish & Wildlife. “Any impacts proposed within the National Wildlife Refuge would require…an environmental document that addresses both state and federal environmental requirements.”

Visual Resources – “Based on an initial review, it appears the proposed project may adversely affect visual resources. Willow Glen Drive is designated as a County Scenic Road. Views from scenic vistas, scenic highways and County Scenic Routes, and public recreation areas will need to be analyzed further to determine the extent of any adverse impacts.”

Additionally, a 115-page Scoping Letter issued by the County in May 2019 provides other details on the approval requirements, including the need to address impacts involving noise, air quality, altered hydrogeologic conditions, and overall “significant impacts on the environment.”

The Sweetwater Authority, the public water agency that manages Loveland and Sweetwater Reservoirs, also previously sent a letter to the County detailing its concerns about the potential impacts, “…as this project proposes a variety of activities that could significantly increase pollution of the Sweetwater Reservoir.”

In late 2018 over 2,300 petition signatures, emails, and comments were submitted to the County of San Diego from area residents opposed to the plan.

In 2022 and 2023, well over 400 residents took part in public meetings, as County Planning & Development Services and the local Valle de Oro Community Planning Group received hundreds of comments on the proposed project and related draft Environment Impact Report circulations.