Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has filed a preliminary injunction to stop a proposed sand and gravel mine planned for a Chino Valley neighborhood.

Residents hope the move buys them some time.

Cedar Heights resident Mike Dever says he learned about the project when he read a notice nailed to a telephone pole.

He said local residents have opposed the mine, which is likely to generate dust, traffic and noise from blasting.

They have found that state law allows such projects to move forward with little oversight.

"Just because it’s legal for them to do it, doesn’t mean that they should," Dever said. "One of the people that lives here, his house is going to be 215 feet from the processing plant, and within 500 feet of where they’re going to blast."

He said he hopes the Arizona Legislature will take up the issue to prevent similar projects in the future.

Dever said that attempts to develop the area as residential property failed.

"A lot of people will move next to a mine or an airport and complain. This is a case where they couldn’t sell it as residential property, so they just, we’re going to make a mine, and the county can’t do anything to regulate it," Dever said. 

The injunction, which was filed late last week, says the attorney general has the authority to prevent a public nuisance.