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which have been made but not conveyed to us except through this packet that we were <br />able to download just this past week. We will object to the adoption of any of the <br />conditions that are in Exhibit 1. That is based on the letter from our attorney and Board <br />at that time which does not represent the current board insomuch as the Millers have <br />continually refused to accept any of the self- imposed conditions that the Board at that <br />time proposed. The City has pointed out, through a number of letters attached to the <br />agenda item that the lodge is not in violation of the existing CUP. We therefore are <br />willing to accept that opinion and we will be willing to negotiate with the Millers moving <br />forward. We do not understand though why the property is from both Pleasanton's <br />Masonic Center and St. Claire's Church are zoned RM -2,500 when the existing uses <br />have been in place for more than 35 years and as much as the church is running a <br />daycare and hosting multiple indoor and outdoor events during the course of any given <br />week, far more than the lodge is or ever has done, we believe that both properties <br />should be zoned in a manner appropriate for their current uses. <br />The attorney for the Millers makes several references to the fact that the Hall <br />Association, the holding company, has not filed taxes for several years. That is not the <br />case. I would refer you to our CPA but he is out of the country on a trip he planned more <br />than two years ago and he would be able to give you more specific information and this <br />was one of the reasons they sought to postpone this particular hearing. Their attorney <br />also makes several references to the fact that the lodge lost its tax exempt status. This <br />happened simply due to a filing oversight which has since been corrected and the tax <br />exempt status has been restored. The attorney for the Millers makes reference to the <br />fact that our caterer uses the lodge 96% of the time and the lodge only 4 %. This is <br />untrue. The numbers are based solely on estimates the Millers have conjured from thin <br />air. Lodge use, which includes the other Masonic groups which meet there is much <br />greater and the caterer is off -site doing what caterers do— cater. If we applied those <br />same metrics and assumptions to St. Claire's Church, we would find that their daycare <br />facility comprises over 98% of the use and the church not even 2 %. We have, on each <br />occasion when we've rented to an outside party over the last several years, made <br />diligent use of a sound meter and have taken readings near our fence line at multiple <br />times during the event. In most cases the levels were below the required level. A little <br />experimentation; however, revealed that by judicious selection of ranges and waiting of <br />volumes above those limits could be obtained. It is important to note that the proper <br />setting is dB A as specified in the code. We do not know what the Millers may have <br />used when they made their readings. It also should be known that on rare occasions <br />when volumes were obtained which were above the limits, the person taking those <br />readings immediately affected a reduction in volume, returned to the spot where those <br />readings were taken to confirm that the levels had been reduced and the noise level <br />limits were being met. It should be noted also that during many of the times, particularly <br />at night, the noise level from Hopyard Road traffic exceeded the levels coming from the <br />lodge building and sometimes the road noise along exceeded the limits. We've also <br />heard a number of times that the Millers referred to parties consisting of between <br />150 and 600 people. That has not happened in quite a long time. They make allegations <br />that we have parties all the time. The last party that we had that involved a group <br />playing music was last August. We do not rent very often. We do rent, however, to <br />Chabad of Tri- Valley which is a Jewish synagogue. So I just wanted to make sure you <br />were informed of all of those little items. Thank you very much. <br />EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, June 22, 2016 Page 18 of 52 <br />