06 ATTACHMENT 5 - Laserfiche WebLink

o In the 2009 hearing, the Planning commission staff report contained reports of calls to police regarding the Masons. Staff summarized the complaints as follows: 2006: 3 to 6 loud noise /party 2007: 13 loud noise /party As can be seen above in the year 2007, many other residents were complaining. In 2008, at the suggestion of staff, the Millers started their own log and recorded 6 parties between June and November. The Millers did not call the police regarding these parties since the Millers thought it was unfair to impact innocent people who were renting the lodge for a party unaware that the lodge was in a residential zone and violating zoning codes. The Millers decided to wait on calling the police until after the meeting that Planner Donna Decker was trying to set up with the Masons in December of 2008. • The Masons stopped the teen parties advertised to the general public on the Internet after pressure from residents o The Masons eventually learned that the teen parties advertised to the general public on the Internet raised too many complaints and so stopped renting the lodge for these types of parties. That meant that the drug related problems and widespread neighborhood disturbances, including gun shots, were eliminated. o However, the Masons use of the backyard for parties continued to create a severe noise nuisance for the Millers. o The Millers are the only neighbor who share a fence line with the Masons behind the entertainment area, and since noise is a function of distance, the Millers hear all of the noise from outdoor parties held in the buffer zone. • The Millers' neighbors, Ron and Pam Lambert also complained of noise but not from parties. o Ron and Pam Lambert do not live behind the outdoor entertainment area on the Masons' property. Instead, the Lamberts live behind an open field, also owned by the Masons, which is next to the outdoor entertainment area. The Lamberts complained to the Masons regarding: (1) homeless workers from the catering company living in tents in the open field on the other side of the Lambert's fence, and (2) teens smoking weed behind the trees in the open field on the other side of the Lambert's fence. What is interesting is that Ron and Pam do not hear the party noise, and the Millers do not hear the noise from homeless workers or drug loiterers in the field. 6. Page 3 of the 2015 Staff Report discusses staff's meetings with the Masons and states, "Staff met and discussed the issues relating to noise and disorderly conduct with Masonic representatives on numerous occasions; however, little progress was made in resolving neighbor concerns." • Yes, it is true that little progress was made. The reason is that the Millers kept expecting the City to enforce the codes and insist that the Masons stop using the backyard. However, at no time did the City ever ask the Masons to stop using the backyard despite violations in the General Plan, zoning codes and CUP. Instead, the City allowed these violations as an accessory use, which was also invalid. This was discussed in detail in the Millers' prior document, and is briefly discussed here. Basically, an accessory use is a minor use. However, the Millers clearly showed that the Masons' commercial businesses were the major use of the lodge. That is, the use of the lodge had changed from a fraternity to a commercial