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developed direct access to a public road. It is therefore dependent on one or more <br /> private roads in the area. As the application is unclear about which roads will be used it <br /> is anticipated that based on pass use that the proposed uses will add significant burden <br /> to the already overburdened property owners along Indian Tree Road (See Access <br /> section below for more details). This single lane private road cannot safely handle <br /> regular use by large heavy vehicles nor the high volume of vehicles resulting from these <br /> new uses. Consequently, the property owners overwhich this road passes will be <br /> impacted by damage to the road itself and the surrounding lands. There will also be <br /> significant noise, dust, vibration, impacts to farm operations, and possible liability <br /> exposure. Widening of this road to 2 lanes along with other improvements should be a <br /> condition of this permit along with a road maintenance agreement. Otherwise, the <br /> landowners rather than the major road users will have to carry most of this burden. The <br /> proposed remedies by the Planning Director such as an annual $5000 road repair fund <br /> falls way short of the required amount. It should be noted that many other special permit <br /> applications in the past such as retreat and event centers have been denied because it <br /> was determined that they would overly burden the roads (public or private) in the area. <br /> While most of the impacts to the surrounding area are traffic related, noise from the <br /> all-night long music events and smoke from the campfires and other burning are also <br /> significant impacts to the surrounding area. <br /> These impacts will certainly make this area less desirable to live in and make it more <br /> difficult to farm the land and thus will negatively affect property values. <br /> It should also be noted that having to deal with the frequent unpermitted uses in our <br /> neighborhood and then having to respond when attempts are made to legitimize these <br /> uses through the special permit process is itself a burden. Should either of these <br /> proposed uses be approved given the modest prerequisite condition imposed by the <br /> Director, we would expect there will be additional special use permit requests of a similar <br /> nature from other users of our road. We therefore would like to see a higher threshold of <br /> standards applied to these applications along with real enforcement of the conditions <br /> such that the burden on the landowners is reduced. For example, for this project it is <br /> very likely that we will have to spend significant resources (time and money) in a <br /> contested case situation. When we bought our farm in the middle of an Ag-zoned area <br /> we expected to have to deal with the normal burdens normally associated with farm <br /> activities. We did not expect to have to deal with so many attempts to change the <br /> surrounding land uses through the special permit process or via other means.The <br /> ongoing uncertainty with the future surrounding land uses makes it challenging to make <br /> long term plans for our farm. <br /> 9. According to the criteria Section 6-3(b)(5) (C), Such use shall not unreasonably <br /> burden public agencies to provide roads and streets, sewers, water, drainage, <br /> school improvements, and police and fire protection. This is partially true and only <br /> because much of the road burden will be carried by the surrounding landowners. In his <br />