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22587 Burwood Lane <br /> Escalon, CA 95320 <br /> October 12,2010 <br /> SJ County Planning Commission <br /> 1810 East Hazelton Avenue <br /> Stockton, CA 95205 <br /> Re. Application No.QX-89-0002(Extended Hours of Operation for George Reed, Inc.) <br /> We have a small cattle and horse ranch on Burwood Lane that borders the Munn&Perkins <br /> property. Over the years it has become apparent that the corporate citizenry of Modesto's — <br /> George Reed Inc. is somewhat less than admirable,with their M&P operation having <br /> - Operated during restricted time periods without authorization; <br /> - Installed new equipment without permits; <br /> - Mined adjacent property without approval; <br /> - Created dust pollution on adaily basis—when documenting photographs were <br /> submitted to the regional air quality district, M&P attributed the dust to surrounding <br /> farming operations; <br /> - Routinely exceeded county maximum noise standards new our residence,as <br /> documented by their own acoustic study(Environmental Noise Assessment, Bollard <br /> Acoustical Consultants, Oct. 7,2009,p.11); and <br /> - Claimed grandfather exemptions for new facilities, such as their upgraded(and <br /> louder)rock crusher. <br /> Now,more recently with the addition of asphalt holding facilities,they pollute the surrounding <br /> neighborhood with noxious hydrocarbon fumes, making it virtually impossible for us to be <br /> outdoors at various times, or to keep our windows open. Given their history, it's not surprising <br /> that George Reed is now using a flawed acoustic study to support their application for <br /> operating at night time without pre-approval. <br /> It's unfortunate enough that our agriculturally zoned region is continuously subjected to this <br /> offensive industrial operation during normal operating hours, as well as the dangerous and <br /> noisy truck traffic on 2-lane River Road, without being subjected to the same noise, dust and <br /> odors during the night and early morning. For the acoustic"expert"to recommend that we <br /> close our windows is simply not realistic—our 145-yr old farm house is not air conditioned. <br /> The aggregate and asphalt trucks on River Road don't even obey the speed limit, let alone drive <br /> in a manner to reduce their noise impact. These are mostly independent operators,not subject <br /> to any governance by M&P. Combining darkness and fog, as we often have in winter near the <br /> Stanislaus River,makes for an especially dangerous situation;a friend collided with a gravel <br /> truck pulling out from the M&P plant on a foggy morning. <br /> It's also unfortunate that most of the residents on and near River Road are not aware of this <br /> proposal, since they do not have to be notified, even though they are directly affected by daily <br />