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Approved 1/11/2016 OC Board of Adjustment – 11/9/15 Page 34 of 48 1 Nancy Oglesby: Thank you for hearing me. So, with the music so loud that we could hear it inside our house, the only way to 2 escape was to leave our home. And we have horses and they became agitated and with all the loud noise next door, there were 3 occasions when it was not safe to ride. And since no one lived on site at times when alarms went off at night it takes a long time to 4 get somebody to come out and turn them off. Having an absentee landlord next door is not a good neighbor. And there was a time 5 when the sheriff’s deputy came over to our house to discuss a noise complaint but, they said that there was nothing that they could 6 do. Once when they had a sweet 16 party several of the teens at the party got bored and left the party and walked around the 7 neighborhood and they showed up on our front porch at 10 am because they thought they remembered that they knew someone 8 that lived there. And so we realized that there was little or no supervision of teens and that people attending parties seemed to be 9 free to walk around surrounding neighborhoods late at night. And that is not in harmony with the rural Orange County way of life. 10 Also, during that general time, on prom night for one of the local high schools some teens or somebody sneaked over and 11 vandalized some farm equipment that was between our neighborhood and the party barn property. This caused a huge uproar with 12 the farm accusing people in the neighborhood of having done it, even though law enforcement said that they suspected it was 13 done by teenage prom goers. Which showed us that we’re all more vulnerable to vandals because the party barn was attracting 14 teens to the area in a party like atmosphere. Also, our neighborhood was required by our insurance policy to increase our 15 coverage since we now had people coming to the ponds that we jointly owned with the party barn property and if someone from 16 the party barn had drowned in the pond, even though we didn’t invite them, we could be sued also. So this is an additional cost 17 that we continue to pay. When people from our neighborhood called 911 to make noise complaints we were told by the deputies 18 responding that there was nothing that could be done. Although we were later told by a lawyer that the deputy was supposed to 19 have used a decibel meter to measure how loud the music was and whether it complied with the law. We never heard of this being 20 done. People learn not to call 911 to make noise complaints because it didn’t do any good. We did call the people who owned the 21 property to complain but that was not effective. When parties are held and hundreds of cars drive down country roads that are 22 normally quiet it’s dangerous for bike riders and pedestrians during the day and for anyone at night, especially when the alcohol is 23 served. Also, our realtor has told us that when we sell our house we’re required to reveal to potential buyers all which she called 24 material facts about the property. Including that we’re within a certain number of feet within a party barn, and some buyers will not 25 be interested in a house that is close to an event center. And she tells us that reducing the potential pool of buyers… 26 27 Sharron Linn: Objection, this is hearsay. 28 29 Nancy Oglesby: She actually testified at the hearing so she’s in the minutes of the hearing. 30 31 Karen Barrows: We understand, it’s hearsay. We’ve been hearing hearsay. Thank you. 32 33 Nancy Oglesby: So anytime you reduce the pool of buyers for a house that means that a house is more likely to be on the market 34 longer and sell for a lower price than it would’ve otherwise. And I’d last like to add that having lots of outdoor lights and parking 35 areas, patios or outside of buildings, it’s very disruptive to nearby neighbors that live out in the country. We live here because we 36 like the solitude, quiet, peace and natural beauty that the rural buffer has to offer. It doesn’t matter what you call it, whether you 37 call it a farm or a barn or an event center or whatever. Large, loud parties with their night club like atmosphere built on the cities 38 and towns away from private homes where the roads and the police that are used to them and equipped to deal with them, can 39 deal with them. So please, don’t ruin the rural Orange County way of life for all of us. Thank you. 40 41 Karen Barrows: Thank you Nancy. 42 43 David Rooks: And now, my last one is Laura Straitfield. 44 45 Laura Straitfield: I have been sworn. My name is Laura Straitfield and I live at 3141 Morrow Farm Lane. My road ends across from 46 the corner of Millikan and Morrow Mill Road. And I am here tonight for a number of concerns. Trying to follow this issue I want to 47 thank the planning department for being forthright and sharing information and documents so that was very helpful but, I am 48 concerned about hearing at the neighborhood information meeting for the very first time that this property was bought and that our 49 neighbors first learned about this property being proposed for a development by certified letter, felt very out of character for our 50 community where we know each other, we keep at prized of one another’s safety. We let each other know if there’s somebody in 51 the neighborhood we don’t recognize and today I sat out on Morrow Mill Road thinking about all of that was at stake. And for 20 52 minutes I sat, facing Millikan and Morrow Mill and didn’t see a single car. So it’s that quiet, that as neighbors we walk down the 53 center of the road, as folks have said. All weekend long. My children have friends who come from Chapel Hill, not only bikers 54 come out but people come out to watch the eclipse, watch shooting stars, to listen to peepers on our back porch and my kids have 55