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Kari Collins From: Kathleen Erickson <kathyercksn@aol.com> Sent: Friday,August 21, 2015 1:24 PM To: *RVCouncil Subject: Agenda Item for August 24 Council Agenda Council Members and City Staff: I am a bit puzzled by the wording of the following agenda item: 8:25 p.m. d. Determine Fence Screening and Landscaping Requirements for Vogel Sheetmetal IU, 2830 Fairview Avenue I was present at a Planning Commission meeting in May of 2014 when the following conditions were articulated in basic English that 1) Vogel Sheet Metal (now Vogel Mechanical) construct opaque fencing of 6 to 8 feet in height along the northern perimeter of their property, 2)plantings of both coniferous and deciduous trees be added along said fence line, and 3) outside doors at Vogel remain closed during hours of operation. Subsequent to that Planning Commission meeting I was present at a Council meeting when these same conditions were added to the Vogel Sheet Metal IUP. These requirements were to be fulfilled 60 days after Vogel took official occupancy of the facility, and certainly prior to their commencing operations at that location. The 60-day deadline passed on August 15, 2015. I have seen copies of the IUP document that was signed by the chief officer of Vogel Sheet Metal which accepts the stated conditions under which the IUP will be granted. It is also my understanding that the Planning Commission again addressed the issue of conditions attached to the Vogel IUP in May of 2015 and requested an update from Community Development staff. If you look back at the video of that Planning Commission meeting you will note that staff were reminded that the stated conditions were not just "suggestions" but requirements approved unanimously by the Commission and upheld by the Council. My questions is: Why are these conditions, after more than a year, yet to be determined when the language seems perfectly clear? In almost 16 months, have the Vogels and their attorney not had time to seek clarification of these requirements, or are the conditions merely suggestions? I have sat in a Council meeting and witnessed private residents who are subject to the abatement process and given a matter of weeks to comply--to ensure an acceptable living environment for their neighbors. The residents who border the Vogel property to the north have seen 2 proposals--neither of which comply with the spirit or language of the conditions. We were willing to sit down and talk things over but were told that we could meet with their attorney. It was at that time that the residents retained counsel to represent our concerns. Even after that, we informed Mr Bilotta that we were still willing to sit down and try to come to a meeting of the minds. Mr. Bilotta replied, "Well, that ship has pretty much sailed." We don't have the luxury of living in a home surrounded by parks and woods,but we would like some reasonable screening and protection from the sights and sounds of a sheet metal company. We did not complain when the new lights lit up our house and yard at night. We did not complain when we had to move a family cook-out(with children & grandchildren) and a birthday party indoors at the last minute when the Vogel lawn service came to cut the grass. We endured the "trimming" of our maple trees because the Vogels requested that 1