Politics & Government

Pivotal Meeting on Temecula Quarry Set for Tuesday

The Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the plan for a quarry near Temecula.

A big turnout was expected for the first of two meetings Tuesday about a 414-acre mining operation.

The quarry, which is slated to go just south of Temecula, was lauded for its potential economic benefits and criticized for being a threat to the environment.

The Planning Commission will hear the plan for the quarry and consider granting the applicant, Granite Construction, mining permits.

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A county report states the quarry will have no harmful side-effects that can’t be mitigated and the planning department recommended to the commissioners they approve the project.

The meeting will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday at 31300 Rancho Community Way at Rancho Community Church.

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The meeting is expected to be seven hours long and include an hour-long dinner break. Another hearing is scheduled for the same church on May 3, also at 4 p.m.

The quarry, which has been in the application process since 2005, would border San Diego County and Temecula city boundaries.

The project aims to run for 75 years and take out five million tons of construction-grade aggregate from the mine. It would create 100 jobs averaging $100,000 each, and generate $41 million  in tax dollars, according to Granite.

The aggregate would be used in asphalt and concert for roads and buildings.

The Greater Riverside, Lake Elsinore and Wildomar chambers of commerce endorsed the project, but the Friends of the Santa Margarita River, the Endangered Habitats League and the Rainbow Planning Group condemned it.

The mine was part of a territory the city south for annexation, which in 4,500 acres to the city included a nature preserve.


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