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Approved 11/14/2011 OC Board of Adjustment – 6/13/2011 Page 25 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 consider the number of events or time of day, the time the music is played. Those are two conditions you could impose. Michael Harvey: What I am hearing this board say is that it is not the indoor activities that cause you consternation. It is the potential for the outdoor activities. I have heard you say, can you establish a limit on the outdoor activities. The only caveat I would like to give you is that if you establish a limit on the outdoor activities, it needs to be crafted in the conditions of the special use permit that only talks about fundraisers or special events and that such a condition shall not impact the educational component of this facility which does happen outdoors. This is an active farm, the groups that come here obviously go out, get crops, play with the animals, harvest the eggs and are taken by the staff to the various holding pens where there are animals. I want to make sure we are clear that the condition, the issue we are dealing with is the holding of the special event that have an outdoor component whether it be music is what I am hearing. Tom Brown: Loud outdoor activities. Michael Harvey: Right. Now, I have ask the question of both the petitioner and Mr. Rooks about a limit, is it potential, obviously I am not going to speak for Mr. Parker who said he hasn’t broached it technically with his applicant so I will let you ponder that question with him and asking Mr. Rooks the same question, he says that his clients would be happy with a limit of two per year. Whether that is realistic or not, I am just saying this is the question I have to ask these two gentlemen and I’ll let them respond to it but any condition you come up with needs to be crafted in such a manner that is specifically geared towards special outdoor events without an educational component because we don’t want to inadvertently restrict activities that everyone seems to agree are reasonable. Obviously, I haven’t heard anything about indoor activities; music played indoors will be regulated by the noise ordinance. What I am hearing is the outdoor. Orientation of the bands and are there reasonable hours of operation. Tom Brown: I think that is where we are. It’s the special events with loud outdoor music that is really the crux of the issue here. How do we get together to where we have some compromise? If you are not having music it is not an issue. If you have a fundraiser, it is not an issue. What we are discussing here is music and amplified sound that carries across a large expanse of distance and actually be heard inside someone’s house. Mike Parker: I am having a really difficult time understanding why the Orange County Noise Ordinance doesn’t solve that problem. That is a standard whether we have loud music, whether we have loud animals, whether we have a motorcycle rally that sets a standard we all can live with. We have to live with it and I am not sure why there needs to be another way of saying you can’t have anything that is even close to that any other time of the year. Tom Brown: Unfortunately, we have no measurements at all from the applicant or the opposition to give us any idea of what kind of noise has been generated on the property. Mike Parker: The only time I know it happened, the Orange County Sheriff’s office said it is not a violation of the noise ordinance. I will tell the Board of Adjustment this, one of the problems probably we have had in the past is the we have allowed the use of the facility without being hands on in control in the use of the facility which will not happen in the future, I will assure you of that. We have tried to be an excellent neighbor and not charge people to use the facility, give them the opportunity to go there and that will not happen in the future. We will control those events. Tom Brown: At a minimum, a condition that would be added is active supervision of all activities by the agricultural center would be required. Mike Parker: You understand that is not required in your existing ordinance for camp and retreat centers. They rent facilities, they let folks go in and have them catered by outside parties and they basically put the money in the bank and don’t show up until it is time to lock the doors. Tom Brown: I understand but this is a unique camp and retreat center with unique functions. Therefore, we are discussing here what kind of conditions would be imposed that would make sense and serve you as well as the opposition. Mike Parker: I think the appropriate standard is to say we must comply with that noise ordinance at all times.