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59 <br /> 1550 Bruin Trail. We have previously met with the owners of this house, who also reside there. <br /> They had no objections to our plans for our property. The houses along Manor Drive are further <br /> away. The closest house in the Heartwood community is well over 3,000 feet from our proposed <br /> materials staging area. <br /> It is also worth noting the County's own requirements for minimum distances where its <br /> ordinances are maximally restrictive due to noise concerns. Consider outdoor shooting ranges. <br /> The County ordinances require that there be a minimum distance of 1,000 feet between an <br /> outdoor shooting range and the nearest occupied dwelling unit external to the property.2 Our <br /> noisiest location would be our wood and debris staging area. It is over 2,000 feet from any <br /> neighbors who have expressed concerns about potential noise. <br /> Sound Tests, Day One <br /> On the evening of December 26th we tested the noises created by a honking truck horn and a <br /> large chainsaw. We operated the chainsaw at full throttle where we plan to locate our wood and <br /> debris staging area: the far side of the cell tower. For the truck horn blasts, we parked the truck <br /> on the near side of the cell tower. The first listening location was the street in front of 1219 <br /> Blackwood Mountain Road. The second location was the street in front of 1310 Manor Dr. Of the <br /> quasi-public locations within the two communities these locations appear to be the closest to our <br /> property at 6915-UT Millhouse Rd. <br /> We found that neither the chainsaws nor the truck horn blasts were perceptible from the <br /> Heartwood Community or from Manor Dr. <br /> While the horn blasts and the chainsaw were clearly heard through the cell phone, as soon as <br /> the cell phone at the operator's location was placed on mute, no sound from either the horn nor <br /> the chainsaw could be heard. Three non-hearing-impaired youth conducted the hearing test <br /> alongside me. Apart from nature noises (the occasional bird chirp), all we could hear was the <br /> near-constant noise of vehicle travel on the 1-40. The traffic noise from 1-40 was noticeable from <br /> both locations. <br /> Sound Tests, Day Two <br /> We returned on the morning of December 30th for additional tests with a louder chainsaw, a <br /> marine air horn, and a wood chipper, this time locating all of these on the near side of the cell <br /> phone tower. We directed the air horn and the chipper chute toward the listening location at <br /> Manor Dr. <br /> During this second test we were able to hear some, but not all of the marine air horn blasts. We <br /> were not able to hear the chainsaw. The wood chipper was just audible, but not nearly as loud <br /> as barking dogs or rustling clothing. <br /> 2 Orange County UDO 5.7.2 (13)(1)(ii) <br /> 3 <br />