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Comment Letter St Jorge Winery "Site Approval Applicadon"PA-1200063 The Commission should instruct the Community Development Department staff to pursue its April 2012 enforcement action to its conclusion and then report to the Commission any recommendations it may have. D. The San Joaquin County Planning Commission Should Revoke the St.Jorge Winery Permit and Require the Illegally-Built Structures Be Removed The business conduct described herein flouts the law and is unacceptable. Businesses which apply for and obtain permits and then engage in conduct well beyond their permit and the County's policies cannot be allowed to operate,nor escape being caught without sanction commensurate to their conduct. The Development Department staff should recommend to the Commission that the permit granted to the Vierras in 2005 for their St.Jorge Winery business should be revoked and the business owners remove all structures built without benefit of San Joaquin County permit. VI. THE"INITL&L STUDY"FOR THE 2012 EXPANSION APPLICATION IS FLAWED A. The"Mitigated Negative Declaration"is this Project's CEQA Review Document The Mitigated Negative Declaration(MND)is the environmental review document which the Community Development Department staff has determined is appropriate for approval of this "smallwinery"expansion project. An"Initial Study"was required of the applicants in order to process their expansion application. The purpose of an Initial Study and a Mitigated Negative Declaration are to prepare, present,and constitute the pertinent facts and logic necessary in order for the Planning Commission to make the findings required by law for project approval. The August 2,2012 MND concludes that`Based on the attached Initial Study,it has been found that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment" B. The Required"Noise Study"Was Conducted Without Controls 1. Noise Study Description As a part of the Initial Study,a"noise study"was required for this project. The purpose of such a study is to obtain information useful in decision-making. In order for such information to be useful,it must be reliable. Reliability requires the use of objective controls in making the study. As conducted, the Initial Study shows that there were no controls of any lupe on sound levels employed in making the noise study. Instead,the firm conducting the study rehed purely on what`the owners of the winery felt was typical': "a noise study was required to identify possible mitigation measures for any amplified noise source impacts. A noise study was conducted by J. C.Brennan and Associates dated August 2,2012. The noise analysis included conducting a staged concert The owners of the winery were requested to set up a sound system on the stage area which is oriented in the direction of the typical music. In addition,it was requested [of the applicants] that that[sic]the music played was at an amplitude(loudness)which 17