Trabuco Canyon : 400 Residents Protest Gravel Excavation Plan
About 400 Rancho Santa Margarita residents attended an outdoor meeting Sunday to fight a proposed sand and gravel operation, organizers said.
“This was a meeting to give residents information about the size of the sand and gravel operation and impact it would have on our area, including increased traffic,” said Teresa Showalter, spokeswoman for a newly organized group known as Homeowners Against Rock Mining (HARM).
Speakers included wildlife society representatives and Orange County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, who told homeowners he would delay his opinion until he has studied an environmental impact report. The report was expected in late August or September, Showalter said.
Trabuco Aggregates Co. has proposed an operation that would cover 632 acres of rustic canyon area. The company is a joint venture of Palomar Grading and Paving of Escondido and C.L. Pharis Sand and Gravel in Orange.
The company filed an application with the county in January, 1986, to change the area’s zoning from general agricultural to sand and gravel extraction, which also would accommodate an asphalt processing plant.
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