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"Staff believed that these measures,when instituted,would help to address many of <br /> the concerns raised by the Millers." <br /> Millers'response: <br /> (Previously communicated to staff in the Millers'Jan. 28 hearing rebuttal.) <br /> • This is incorrect.These measures did not address the Millers'concern.The Masons' <br /> proposal allows sixteen days for commercial outdoor events (the actual number of parties <br /> could be greater if a child's party is held during the day and adult party at night)and an <br /> unlimited number of outdoor Masonic events per year, totaling perhaps 20 or 30 parties per <br /> year. Furthermore,there was no mechanism to determine if a party was commercial or <br /> Masonic. Would you be happy if your neighbor conducted 20 to 30 noisy parties a year? We <br /> doubt staff would be, and neither would you. <br /> 9. On Page 7,staff states: <br /> "Staff contacted the President of the Masonic Center, and was informed that the indoor <br /> space was used by a group of[Masonic] women engaging in quilting, and the quilters' <br /> children were playing outside.The Masonic Center building was not rented that day and <br /> there were no organized activities. Staff responded to the Millers in writing on <br /> November 26, 2013 that the activities on November 12 did not constitute an <br /> exceedance of the thresholds in the Noise Ordinance.The noise ordinances restrictions <br /> apply to voices using machines (microphone, amplifier, loudspeaker,etc.).Thus, non- <br /> amplified human voice noise is not a noise violation." <br /> Millers' response: <br /> (Previously communicated to staff in the Millers'Jan. 28 hearing rebuttal.) <br /> This is correct. However,since this was a Mason only party,this demonstrates that Masonic <br /> parties can still be extreme noise nuisances, as in this case when 25 Masonic children were <br /> running around screaming in the backyard. <br /> Furthermore,this is the first time that the Millers discovered that City staff was interpreting the <br /> noise codes to exclude voices, an interpretation that is nonsensical on its face. Unwanted <br /> human voices are actually more disruptive according to the Millers' sound engineer. That is why <br /> most cities place even greater restriction on human voices than on machine noise. And since <br /> staff is claiming that the noise codes don't include voices, residents have no protection against <br /> these types of events. <br /> 10. On Page 7, staff states: <br /> "March 2016—May 2016—the Millers filed complaints similar to previous complaints <br /> concerning noise and uses of the Masonic Center. Staff responded in writing and <br /> concluded that no violations had occurred (see Exhibit L of Attachment 5)." <br />