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DRAFT -15- 751 Noise pollution; already our once peaceful, rural buffer community has been impacted with 752 noise from the town operations center. We hear the coming and going of buses and 753 maintenance vehicles and the testing of sirens and the disconcerting shots from small arms 754 practice and the increased noise from 1 -40 caused by the removal of the buffer of trees that 755 used to protect us from the worst of this traffic sound. Now we are asked to add the sound of up 756 to 90 dogs to this mix. On an acoustical basis alone, the project is not suitable for our 757 neighborhood. Traffic; Millhouse Road is a small winding road... a scant two miles long. This 758 road is heavily used during rush hours. Parents are delivering their children to the Waldorf 759 School. Commuters from the southwestern part of the county use the road as a short cut to 760 Highway 86. UPS trucks use it to avoid the stoplight at Eubanks Road. City and County 761 vehicles use it as a shortcut to Hillsborough. After many years, we were finally granted a 30 762 mile per hour speed limit posting although it is not enforced and speeding remains a problem. 763 The planners of this project have chosen the worst possible location on the road for a new 764 entryway. The location is on a blind curve on a blind hill. Each dog owner represents two trips 765 down Millhouse Road for each visit. Add to these staff vehicles and the deliveries of supplies, 766 hopefully in small amounts because nothing larger than a pickup truck would be able to make 767 the angle of that turn at that location. Adding a new entry and more traffic to Millhouse Road is 768 not a safe proposal. Quality of life; I hear a lot of talk about the value of the Rural Buffer and the 769 preservation of space and the need to make careful decisions about commercial. expansion. It 770 is time to walk the walk. If this permit is granted, what other commercial ventures might it open 771 the door for? Mobile homes, stone quarries, fraternity houses. All of those are Class B 772 projects. This permit application should never have been allowed. According to (my reading of) 773 the Unified Development Ordinance adopted in 2011, this type of permit is only allowed in 774 designated economic development areas and we are not one. We are still zoned as a rural 775 buffer. Therefore, I feel the authorizing of the permit is not valid. 776 777 Michael Harvey: Did any other citizens want to ask questions? Unless the board has any 778 questions for Mr. Stewart or Mr. Wheeler. 779 780 Dawn Brezina: Considering the comments from Mrs. Schenley, does anyone have any 781 questions for Mr. Wheeler or Mr. Stewart concerning noise? 782 783 David Blankfard: I know you said you would be involved in the project to make sure there are 784 no fatal flaws to the detailing, is there a report you can turn in with the design drawings? 785 786 Noral Stewart: If requested, that can be done, that is at the time of the building permit, you 787 could, as a condition, say that we have to have a report saying we have reviewed the plans and 788 the building will function and meet the ordinance. 789 790 James Carter: This question is for Mrs. Schenley and Mr. Stewart. She asked you a question. 791 Mrs. Schenley, did he answer your question about what you wanted in terms of the acoustics. 792 793 Kathleen Schenley: He just said he had not tested the acoustics from across the street where 1 794 live. My question was because the way the topography of the land is, the mountain acts as a 795 backdrop so when the cougars are running around the mountain, we hear them quite loudly at 796 our house so I was curious if he tested how it would be with taking into account that acoustic 797 factor of a mountain behind. 798 799 Noral Stewart: As I indicated, I have not done any testing or measuring. Topographical 800 features like that if you have a strong high rising hill, you can hear the echo off of it. Echos are 801 typically not as loud as the direct sound you hear to follow up the echo sound. Sounds from 802 distant places like that are often heard when atmospheric conditions are strong and someone 803 might think they are reflecting off the hill but it may just be the atmospheric conditions. Did you 804 notice there were certain times of the day; early in the morning or in the evening when you hear OC Board of Adjustment — 5/14/2012 Page 15 of 41