A San Diego County Planning Commission hearing originally scheduled for April 17 to consider the proposed Cottonwood Sand Mine has been delayed until later this year.
According to Stop Cottonwood Sand Mine, the community group opposing the East County project, county staff need more time to prepare a written report that will include a large amount of community input and other related material.
Staff also are still working on the final environmental impact report to be posted on the Planning Commission website, according to the group.
No future date for a hearing on the proposal has been announced.
The sand mine is proposed on the former site of the Cottonwood Golf Club and would cover about 214 acres with an entrance at 3121 Willow Glen Drive in Rancho San Diego.
The mine would extract 6.4 million tons of material to produce 5.7 million tons of mineral resources in three phases over 10 years. Restoration of the land would be conducted in a fourth phase.
The last hearing about the proposal was at the March 18 meeting of the Valle de Oro Community Planning Group, which unanimously voted to oppose the plan.
Opponents speaking throughout the meeting raised possible health concerns about the operation and objected to its location and noise. The proposal calls for excavation and processing at the site to occur from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with trucking operations from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays.
Intesa Communications Group, the organization representing the developer, responded to the complaints with a statement that said the phased approach would reduce community concerns and ultimately create 200 acres of permanent, preserved open space for the community.
In the near-term, the project would provide material for housing and infrastructure projects, reducing the cost and environmental damage that otherwise would be created by trucking sand in from Mexico or other areas outside the region, the statement continued.
