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1 <br />Michael Harvey <br />From:Barry Jacobs <br />Sent:Tuesday, February 25, 2014 2:50 PM <br />To:Michael Harvey <br />Subject:FW: Public Hearing of February 24, 2014 Regarding Sunny Acres Pet Resort <br />fyi <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />“A great tailor cuts little." <br />Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching       <br /> <br /> <br />From: Susan Heske [susan.heske@gmail.com] <br />Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 12:17 PM <br />To: Barry Jacobs; Earl McKee; Mark Dorosin; Alice Gordon; Bernadette Pelissier; Renee Price; Penny Rich <br />Subject: Public Hearing of February 24, 2014 Regarding Sunny Acres Pet Resort <br />Dear Orange County Commissioners: <br />Thank you for the opportunity to speak last night in support of Sunny Acres Pet Resort to amend the zoning of <br />their property and to ask for an exemption from the 150-foot buffer regulation. <br />Sunny Acres is an exceptional small business run by decent hard-working owners who have invested <br />financially, personally, and emotionally in trying to provide the best quality of care and service to their two- and <br />four-legged customers. Also, a number of dogs who go there (including one of mine) are rescue dogs who have <br />been products of unregulated puppy mills in North Carolina. As a community service, Sunny Acres has hosted <br />adoption days for various organizations desperate to find homes for abused, neglected, and abandoned dogs. <br />In response to the testimony of last evening, I am rather concerned about how compliance and complaints are <br />handled. Although a letter from 2006 was referenced several times, I would like to know if this letter has been <br />entered into the public record, and if such letter clearly states that Sunny Acres was not in compliance with the <br />150-foot buffer regulation and that it (the letter) clearly states the guidelines for specific permits. It is still not <br />clear to me why 8 years has passed regarding this matter and that the only explanation was about some issues <br />with the staff. There does appear to be some inconsistencies as to which businesses have to comply with the <br />150-foot buffer zone. <br />I also thought it rather inappropriate that an official would testify that it would not be a hardship for the owners <br />of Sunny Acres to move their fences without direct knowledge of what the costs would entail nor the ability or <br />reality for the Easterlin's to incur such costs. Sunny Acres is a small business not a major company like Duke <br />Energy that has "deep pockets" to incur such costs (actually, come to think of it, DE complains about incurring <br />costs on a regular basis so maybe they are not a good example). <br />The feasibility of Sunny Acres moving fences and moving yards (even if the rezoning of their other property is <br />approved) doesn't seem very feasible. Granted, I am not a civil engineer or landscape architect, however <br />relocating several homes and undertaking a major (de)construction project doesn't seem to make a lot of sense <br />and it would be quite costly. I, for one, believe in landshaping - working with the existing landscape in order to <br />make the best use of land while minimizing the environmental impact. Sidebar: I am for solar energy/power, but <br />98