LAKE ELSINORE -- Though residents who live near the proposed site of a massive mining project raised a litany of concerns, the Planning Commission on Tuesday paved the way for more than 12 million tons of material to be extracted from the site over the next few years.

The 125 acres to be mined are about a quarter-mile north of Temescal Canyon High School.

A subsidiary of developer Castle & Cooke Inc., which owns more than 3,400 acres in the area, asked the commission Tuesday to approve a rehabilitation plan for the site and the area immediately around it that would go into effect as the mining is phased out over three to five years.

Because the company secured the mining rights to the land decades ago, it only needs to have a city-approved plan in place for cleaning up afterward before it can begin the mining. After the mine shuts down, Castle & Cooke plans to build a commercial complex on the land.

Pacific Aggregates is expected to take more than 4 million tons per year of shale, clay and gravel from the land, which runs along Interstate 15 on either side of Nichols Road. The land to the north of the project site is vacant, as is the land to the south. The interstate borders the project to the west and the land to the immediate east is vacant.

After listening to a handful of residents raise concerns over aspects of the project that ranged from the mine's daily hours of operation to the number of trucks that would take over area roads, the commission unanimously approved the plan.

Commissioners said they were convinced that Pacific Aggregates had agreed to take the necessary measures to limit the impact of the project on the community.

Gathered outside the Cultural Center after the commission's decision, some residents said they were disappointed with the way the evening played out. They had only heard about the project just before Tuesday's meeting, they said, and wanted more time to gather information.

It was unclear whether they would appeal. The commission's decision is final unless an appeal to the City Council is filed at City Hall by the end of business Monday.

Randall Siegert, one of the residents, said there was little hope that anything could be accomplished through an appeal.

"They're going to zip this through," he said.

During the meeting, Siegert brought to the commission a list of his concerns.

Chief among them, he said, were the mine's proposed hours of operation.

"This is just going to be real disruptive for our neighborhood," he told the commission.

According to city officials, the mine would operate from 7 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Saturday. Actual mining would occur from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the officials said, with the processing of the material happening at night.

To accommodate rush hour traffic -- particularly the traffic going to and from Temescal Canyon -- hauling would not be permitted on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Tom Tomlinson, the vice president of Castle & Cooke who will oversee the project, told the commission that the company requested those long hours so that the project could be completed as quickly as possible.

And because there is a hill separating the project site and the community to the east where the residents live, Tomlinson said, they shouldn't be affected by the noise or the lights during the evening.

Nor should residents or anyone at the school feel or hear the blasting that will likely occur once a day, he said. The company will be working with school administrators to determine the best time to conduct the blasting, he said.

As for the other concerns raised by the residents, Tomlinson said the company will comply with strict state standards to ensure high air quality and low levels of dust.

There will be about 400 trucks going to and from the site a day, he said, but that's far fewer than the 1,600 that will be going there when Castle & Cooke begins the project it has planned for the land after the mining is complete.

Once the land is rehabilitated, Tomlinson said, the plan is to build a commercial complex on the land similar to the Crossings at Corona. That complex includes an Edwards Cinemas, a Best Buy, a Barnes & Noble, an Old Navy, B.J.'s Pizza & Brewery, Macaroni Grill, Panera Bread and Pick Up Stix.

Commissioner John Gonzales, a teacher at Temescal Canyon, said he originally had concerns about the project being so close to the school. But after recently meeting with Tomlinson, he said, most of his questions were answered.

Though he did say he still had some concerns about the traffic on Nichols Road related to the project, Gonzales said the impact to the school should be minimal.

- Contact staff writer Jose Carvajal at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or jcarvajal@californian.com.