POTRERO, CALIF. - A proposal by security contractor Blackwater has divided residents of this mountain village into two camps: Those who welcome the company's plans to build a firing range here and critics who want to keep it out of town.

The issue has become so controversial that today voters will consider removing from office five members of the advisory planning board that endorsed Blackwater's plans.

Blackwater Worldwide, which is based in Moyock, N.C, wants to turn an 800-acre former chicken farm into a training camp for law enforcement officers. The facility would include 11 firing ranges, a driving track and a helipad. Opposition to the plan intensified in September after Blackwater guards were involved in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.

"This type of company -- is this what America represents?" said Carl Meyer, a former planning board member who is running as an alternate candidate. "With all the news that's come out about them, most people wouldn't want them in their backyards."

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has the final say on the project, but it has not scheduled a vote.

At the edge of town, hand-painted wooden signs festooned with American flags say: "Stop Blackwater." But not everyone in this community 45 miles east of San Diego is opposed to the military contractor.

Gordon Hammers, the 70-year-old chairman of the planning board and chief target of the recall, believes Blackwater can bring enough development to turn Potrero into a middle-class town.

Like much of rural San Diego County, Potrero thrives on a pioneer spirit. The town of about 850 people relies on its own groundwater and is cut off from wealthy coastal California by mountains and miles of state wilderness preserve.

Many residents moved to the area seeking a connection to nature and a slower pace of life. They frequently talk about being able to hear cows lowing at night from miles away.

Opposing Blackwater are residents such as 64-year-old Marion Bowles, a former schoolteacher who talks about old American Indian myths that imagined the valley as a child's cradle. She said she would rather see the former ranch turned into an organic farm and wildlife preserve.

"This is where God comes down to earth. That's his throne!" said Bowles, pointing at the peaks surrounding the town. "This is land designated by the county as agricultural preserve, forest, park land, and they want to start shooting and making noise."

For Blackwater, the valley is an ideal location.

The site is remote and shielded by mountains, but it also is a short drive from downtown San Diego and its array of military bases and federal law-enforcement field offices.