EL CAJONEL CAJON — Sharon Cox just finished her sixth round of chemotherapy.
It’s gone well. The East County resident is getting out more. She’s playing with her grandchildren.
But she worries whether that energy can last.
“If this sand mine goes in, it is not gonna only jeopardize my health,” she said Tuesday during a public meeting. “It’s gonna affect every one of you.”
Cox was one of hundreds who filled the Hillsdale Middle School gym to decry the proposed Cottonwood Sand Mine, which would pull millions of tons of earth out of unincorporated El Cajon over a 10-year period.
The crowd included at least three candidates for an open seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
That five-member body will likely have the final say, meaning the election winner could affect whether the project’s approved. Democrats Monica Montgomery Steppe, a member of the San Diego City Council, and Janessa Goldbeck, a nonprofit CEO, both said they’d vote “no,” as did Republican Amy Reichert, a private investigator.
Republican Paul McQuigg, a retired Marine, wrote in an email that he was similarly skeptical, saying, “I feel that there are better routes to explore in regards to providing sand that will not disrupt the lives of the residents.”
Mine representatives have previously said concerns about the project were overblown.
Residents have until 4 p.m. on Aug. 21, a week later than originally announced, to submit written comments on a county report examining the mine’s environmental impact.
The sand mine
The mine would cover more than 200 acres around Rancho San Diego and Jamul, on what has been the Cottonwood Golf Club. The main entrance would be at 3121 Willow Glen Drive.
Developers want to pull out around 4.3 million cubic yards of material, according to county records.
That volume can be pictured a few different ways. Larger washing machines can be around 3 feet tall, deep and wide, meaning the pile would be comparable to more than 4 million washers. Said another way, the U.S. Navy once needed far less sand, around 2 million cubic yards, to replenish a dozen eroded beaches throughout the county.
The project was first proposed in 2018 and could earn around $40 million, a previous estimate found. The land is owned by Michael Schlesinger, a developer who’s been based in Los Angeles, while Greg Brown, of El Cajon’s New West Investment Group Inc., was at one point the person applying for the mine permit.
While messages left with New West were not immediately returned, Brown previously said in a statement that as “a fellow resident of the community, I appreciate and understand the concerns raised, and I think many of them can be addressed.”
Updated public records show Schlesinger is now the owner and applicant.
Tuesday’s meeting focused on a revised environmental impact report created by county staffers, who are required to analyze projects before they can be formally considered by the San Diego County Planning Commission.
The review concluded that the mine “could result in potentially significant impacts to sensitive plant and animal species” and habitats, “wetland and non-wetland waters” and might run afoul of “local policies, ordinances and adopted plans protecting biological resources.”
However, analysts also said several “mitigation measures,” including a plan to spend two years cleaning up the site, would make the project’s overall effect “less than significant.”
Many residents weren’t buying it.
The opposition
Nearly three dozen people took the microphone Tuesday to say a mine would devastate their town.
Residents worried about the air. They worried about noise. They worried about traffic, with several pointing out that a recent change to the proposal would add 58 “heavy” truck trips a day on top of the 88 already planned, for an operation that would run five days a week, 10 hours a day.
Several people said they lived near sand mines in other parts of the county, and accused those companies of releasing potential poisons, running trucks during off-hours and continuing operations long beyond the original time lines.
The Cottonwood project would cause “horrible, irreparable harm to people, the neighborhood and the environment,” said Elizabeth Urquhart, chair of the nonprofit StopCottonwoodSandMine.org.
She and others have long organized against the proposal.
The organization pulled in almost $23,800 last year, according to tax records, and its website lists more than 200 individual donations, most of which amounted to a few hundred dollars or less. Former County Supervisor Dianne Jacob is a part, as is former La Mesa Councilmember Barry Jantz. The nonprofit said its largest donation, $4,000, came from the Sycuan Tribal Government. (A tribal spokesperson confirmed they had grave concerns about the project.)
Nobody spoke Tuesday in favor of the proposal, although a handful remained in their chairs when one speaker asked everyone opposed to stand up.
Written comments on the environmental report must be emailed to “[email protected]” or mailed to “Planning & Developments Services, attn: Christopher Jacobs, 5510 Overland Avenue, Suite 310, San Diego, CA 92123.”
The Planning Commission will likely be ready to consider the project sometime next year, officials said. That decision can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.
The mine would be in District 2, which is represented by Joel Anderson. A spokesperson said the supervisor wasn’t allowed to comment on projects ahead of public consideration.
