"I'll See You Out In The Shed! ...NOW!"

.

This whole fight over noise started with the Scotsman icemaker - and it appears Allen & Brassey are leaving that P.O.S. machine and its shed for the last. The picture was taken to document the expansion of the already-illegal erection. Currently, the BDGs have sealed it up with tarps to conceal their movements and have to use fans for ventilation.

The shanty shed dates back to the illegal business expansion of TLC Catering in 1993-94. After A&B dodged a zoning complaint bullet, they lied their asses off and conned officials into granting them "grandfathered" land use status. Immediately thereafter they ignored the non-expansion instruction and built themselves a commissary on the property to service all their trucks. From my researched report:

"Yet the TLC Life just kept getting better! Emboldened by Manteca's emasculation, three months later Allen & Brassey assumed home occupation (land use) permission from Health Department (food sanitation) permits and made an application payment to EHD to establish and operate a private commissary, naming their property at 810 Fishback Street as the location for inspections.[Z] (The current Manteca code enforcement officer opined that Allen & Brassey were merely attempting to “legalize” what they had been doing “since they moved in.” When did they move in? Sorry, but they still need a land use permit.) The nine months following September 1993, was likely the period when a walk-in freezer and a refrigerated shipping container were hauled onto the property, refrigerators and freezers were plugged in everywhere, lights and floodlights strung up, and an ancient, noisy icemaker was improperly installed. The illegal mobile home, that longstanding error, was swallowed up in the larger commissary operation, pieces of which were scattered all around the property. The following June, the Health Department plan checks were done and in July 1994, EHD issued a Commissary Permit to the owners of TLC Catering. Again assuming nonexistent permissions, Allen & Brassey began taking commercial deliveries to their property, something expressly prohibited for home occupations. They were now set with four catering trucks, a fully equipped private commissary, and commercial vendors whose big trucks delivered supplies and services to their doorstep... they were unstoppable."

A big concrete pad was poured to support the installation of the Bally walk-in freezer, the Scotsman icemaker, and other refrigerators and freezers used in the business. The posts and fiberglass roofing were put up to protect the appliances, as well as all the other crap Allen & Brassey crammed in there.

The following description of the shed was sent to the city and - no surprise - no action was taken.

Tue 12/29/2009 4:08 PM
New Request # 329034
The Problem you submitted was:
Request type: Permits
Description: A noncompliant and unpermitted accessory covered structure was built along the lot’s north property line, in the fourteen-foot space between a permitted outbuilding and the wooden fence on the property line. Recent noncompliant additions have been made to it.

The structure consists of a concrete pad, approximately 43 feet long and 14 feet wide, formed and poured to within 6 inches of the fence posts. A 31-foot run of roofing is supported on the north side by 4 x 4 uprights. Some uprights are set back approximately 24 inches from the fence, others only 6 inches. The other side of the structure is attached to the outbuilding, under 20 feet of eaves. The green corrugated fiberglass roofing material is cut immediately above the wooden fence and pitched to drain its runoff, and the runoff from the outbuilding’s overhanging eaves, right on top of the fence. The runoff has led to serious deterioration of fence posts and boards.

The purpose of the structure is to house various machinery and appliances. This means that the electrical wiring, plumbing and drainage may also be noncompliant. Indeed, a short popped a circuit breaker a few months ago, which led to some rewiring.

Drainage is a big problem. One of the machines under this structure continuously drains directly onto the concrete pad. Because the property’s elevation is several inches higher than the adjoining property, the water flows, first, onto the ground at the fence line, then onto the adjoining property, causing a mosquito-breeding habitat. Added to that water flow is the roof runoff, mentioned above.

The combined factors of a declining elevation gradient, the concrete pad on Manteca’s soft soil, no footings or soil retention devices, runoff drainage problems, the continuous drainage and intense vibration from one of the machines, and heavy use of the structure has caused soil slumping evidenced by a pronounced bow in the fence.

I am seeking extensive rebuilding - or better yet, outright demolition - of this noncompliant and unpermitted structure on my fence line. In addition to the damages listed above (and some not listed), it is an unsightly intrusion.

The response from code enforcement was, loosely paraphrased, "I can't find my own ass because it's too dark around here." (Hey, have someone take a picture of your ass and Twitter it to you! Buncha' prima donna top models...)

It's time again to shine a light on the shed and Manteca's C.E. geniuses.

.

Through the Looking-Glass - "T'weren't Legal..."

It's too bad Lewis Carroll didn't have an additional given name, something like Timothy or Thaddeus, because then his initials would be T.L.C.

As it is, many of my earliest post titles (Chasing the Rabbit Down the Hole, Curiouser and Curiouser, and Into the King's Court) were references to Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (actually, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872.)

Perhaps this subconcious phenomenon was in recognition of my precipitous slide toward the surreal and twisted world just over the fence,

• where laws mean the opposite of what they say;
•  
• where actresses parrot lines from an ancient script, the origin of which was nearly lost in antiquity;
•  
• where these caricatures* publicly display broad Cheshire Cat smiles, which suddenly appear and more quickly disappear as their ocassion or audience changes;
• (no appearance of magic mushrooms yet).

Therefore. . . with apologies to Lewis Carroll. . . and credit for his understanding and inspiration in bringing his magical creatures to life. . . I offer a minor re-write of Jabberwocky.

T-L-Wocky

T'weren't legal... yet the cater cysts

Did gambol long on Fishback Road:
All misty were their origins
And the O. Rex outgrowed.

"Swear off the roach coach food, my son!

The mobile home! The stinky grease!
Forestall the Crystal truck, and shun
The frumious Scotsman's ice!"

He took his legal pen in hand;

Long time the noisesome prats he sought--
So rested he by the dum-dums' tree
And stood in restless thought.

And, as in sleepless muse he slumped,

The T-L-Wocks - six eyes aflame! -
Came gnashing 'cross their mangy dump
And burbled as they came!

One - Nine - Eight - Six! ... until today!

The research sword went snicker-snack!
He left them stunned, and with their buns
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain M-F P-U's?"

"Yes, sir, they all are on the block!"
"Oh, frabjuous day! Calloo, callay!"
We all cheered 'til we croaked.

T'weren't legal... yet the cater cysts

Did gambol long on Fishback Road:
All misty were their origins
And the O. Rex outgrowed.

- - - - - - - - - -

* caricature (n) imitation, impersonation, parody, lampoon, spoof, sendup, mockery, takeoff, burlesque, travesty, charade, pasquinade, put-on.

The Un-Dead Rise Once More

Peace succumbed once more. She was only nine days old.

born: Monday, October 12, 2009 (Columbus Day)
died violently: Wednesday, October 21, 2009





On Wednesday afternoon, the peace murderer, Bill Crystal of AAA Emergency Refrigeration (209) 988-2773, retrieved the dead Scotsman from Hell and breathed a new half-life into its brainless shell. The resuscitated god-machine found its mechanical voice, roaring to the world all evening and all night long, while the three harpies played loud music and performed their dancing incantations around it. The Devil's scene from the Burns' poem, Tam O'Shanter, below, comes to mind.



Peace vanished, exterminated by the Bacchanalian orgy.

At 12:30 a.m., one devout worshipper, with her charms and prancing presence, stimulated the metal monster to engorged capacity - to the brink of overflowing. A brief expectant pause ensued, with its storage organ fully distended, until...

Beginning at 3:00 a.m., another consort worshipfully bowed and scraped before the reverberating Giver of Ice, manipulating it twelve times within as many minutes to crashing, disgorging climaxes, and trundled away with twelve buckets of its petrified bodily fluids to be insinuated into the Mother of All Kitchens. A few more buckets of potent strippings were teased from the occult relic before the witching hour was up.

At 4:20, the third harpie, the high priestess, revved up her monstrous MFPU (a more appropriate acronym can never be invented); with fire in its belly and ice in its veins, she wheeled the unwieldy contraption, smelling of diesel and rancid grease, onto the street to "pee" for a couple minutes; then drove away in order to spread the drippings of the Scotsman's liquefying seed throughout the neighboring municipality.
.
.

- - - - -
C.S. Lewis wrote in his foreword to Screwtape Proposes a Toast, "... I never wrote with less enjoyment... [T]hough it was easy to twist one's mind into the diabolical attitude, it was not fun, or not for long. The strain produced a sort of spiritual cramp. The world into which I had to project myself while I spoke through Screwtape [ed., or about TLC Catering] was all dust, grit, thirst and itch. Every trace of beauty, freshness and geniality had to be excluded. It almost smothered me before I was done."

What She SAYS - -vs- - What She DOES

Quote from Lynda Allen to City Council: "I have my refrigeration man [here] that can tell you about the ice machine... that's not really a problem... because it doesn't run all night."

- versus -

Recorded incidents of all-night icemaker operation:
Apr 08 - 7 nights
May 08 - 7 nights
Jun 08 - 9 nights
Jul 08 - 13 nights
Aug 08 - 2 nights
Sep 08 - 0
Oct 08 - 1 nights
Nov 08 - 0
Dec 08 - 1 nights
Jan 09 - 2 nights
Feb 09 - 1 nights
Mar 09 - 0 (City Council Meeting)
Apr 09 - 1 nights
May 09 - 1 nights
Jun 09 - 0
Jul 09 - 9 nights
Aug 09 - 15 nights (edited 8/31/09)

- - - - - - -
Actually, the ice machine does run all night much more often than she cares to remember or admit when not under oath. (Oh, by the way, congratulations to TLC Catering on setting a new record last month - almost 50% of all nights - 15 out of 31).
And don't forget the Ice Bucket Brigade - an integral part of the icemaker's operation. Every weekday morning from 3:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. my air is polluted with banging of empty 5-gallon plastic pails, the repetitive, clattering noise of shoveling ice into those pails, latching and slamming ice bin lids and doors, and other disturbances related to the illegal operation of TLC Catering.
And one of Snow White's dwarves whistles while she works... (Hi Ho, Hi Ho, We get to play with Snow...)
I truly DO understand that a business such as this requires preparations during early morning hours. That is EXACTLY why such businesses should not be located in residential zones.
Allen & Brassey's claim of grandfathered land use is FALSE - and TLC Catering should be MOVED elsewhere (... or shut down, if that is T, L, and C's choice.)

Three Days and Three Nights of Noise

In June of last year (2008) the icemaker was broken for a blissfully quiet week. After it was fixed, it ran continuously for days. That same thing happened again this year, this weekend.


I went riding on Friday, July 3rd, because most of the USA had the day off as a holiday. When I returned in the afternoon, the neighbors' Icemaker From Hell had been repaired - and it hasn't been quiet for the last three nights and days. Of course, that is entirely contrary to Ms. Allen's statement in front of the Manteca City Council on March 3rd, when she said:


"I have my refrigeration man [here] that can tell you about the ice machine that's not really a problem because it doesn't run all night. I go to bed at seven, shut it off. I leave at four in the morning."


The machine absolutely DID run all night for many, many nights during the hellish summer of 2007 (for which I have no notes) and also during the summer of 2008 (for which I do have notes.) She may have left at four a.m. (now 4:30 a.m.), but notably omitted mentioning the 6:15 a.m. startup of the machine by the property's third occupant. Shortly after that meeting, "Sleepy Head" Allen moved her bedtime to 8:00 o'clock, along with the corresponding shutoff of the icemaker.


These "public statements vs. private actions" clearly illustrate her lack of truthfulness. Nothing she says can be taken as the truth - or as any part of the truth. To her, truth is very similar to situational ethics: something to be decided at the moment and, depending on the audience, give as little information as possible to buy off the listener.



. . . two days remaining on the revised Response deadline . . .

From Pencil to Print to Digital to Television... whew!

What a week! Never in my wildest dreams did I think this story would be broadcast to the entire Sacramento/Stockton television market area, which includes Manteca, even reaching coworkers in Modesto. Talk about unanticipated results from informing the local press…


The Friday after City Council meeting last week, I got a call from the Sun Post newspaper to schedule an interview this last Monday. The weekly paper publishes tomorrow (Friday). This is exactly what I hoped for – that I could get my case noticed by the press.

* * * * *

But, then… the news story below appeared on the Manteca Bulletin website late Monday night, also a direct result of my presentation to City Council of my research report. Dennis did a great job of laying out the case for his readers.

Ice machine fight escalating: Fed up neighbor asks for council intervention

By Dennis WyattManaging Editordwyatt@mantecabulletin.com209-249-3532
POSTED Feb. 23, 2009 1:22 a.m.

http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/1646/

* * * * *

The next day, on Tuesday, Channel 13’s local news producer picked up the story from the Manteca Bulletin website and sent out Andrea, and Carl her cameraman, to do a 2-minute spot for the 10 o’clock news on Wednesday night. (That’s the link below.) They had already been to the police department, had already tried to speak with Allen or Brassey (but were declined – more gently than was the Sun Post reporter – by Corky), and were waiting for me when I arrived home from work.

Manteca Neighbors In Ice Fight
CBS Channel 13
MANTECA (CBS13)
Feb 26, 2009 7:09 am US/Pacific

http://cbs13.com/local/manteca.ice.fight.2.944485.html

* * * *

What a night... What a week, so far...

.

Peeling the Onion

There is a teaching axiom that goes: Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em; then tell 'em; then tell 'em what you told 'em. This repetitious procedure has worked for my noxious neighbors for twenty-two years - their lies have become ingrained in the psyche of all inhabitants of City Hall. My uphill battle is to expose the foundational lies and yank the rug out from under all of the specious defenses the city uses against me.

After the little set-to with Manteca's Chief of Police last November, where he tried to quarantine me from all City departments with his "closure" letter, I went for ALL the marbles. This weekend I am finalizing my report of the research I've conducted over the last three months and delivering it - all 22 copies - at next Tuesday's Manteca City Council meeting.

The following short introduction of the report will be given during the public comment portion of the meeting, before the report is distributed.




Manteca City Council
Introduction to the Report
Allen & Brassey: TLC on Fishback Street


Manteca City Council Meeting
Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Honorable Mayor, Councilwoman, and Councilmen,

Almost a year ago, Rex Osborn responded to my initial complaints regarding my neighbors’ noisy business operations and equipment with, “This is a complex case,” and, “We are trying to please you, and still not interfere with the rights of you neighbor.” For many tedious months since, a resolution to this “complex case” has defied the best minds in Manteca city government… and my ice-cooled neighbors are still infringing on my rights.

Both my neighbors and the City have been my adversaries since I began this quest. Because of senior staff’s prejudice in this case, based on decades-old misinformation and supposition, they have not been cooperative and I had to “audit around” them in order to “peel this onion” layer by layer. Whenever I begin to feel forgiving toward my neighbors, or tired of this fight, or some City functionary tells me to kiss off – on official letterhead, no less! - without fail my neighbors’ commercial icemaker runs all night and ruins my sleep. That infernal machine always renews my resolve to see this thing through.

I am here tonight to personally deliver to you the report that could not be written by your staff because of its “complexity.” (To submit this report through City Administration would ensure that you never see it because of their prejudice.) It has newly obtained documents, from original public sources, which bring the events of 1986 through 1989 concerning 810 Fishback Street into clear view and completely erase all of my neighbors’ fraudulent claims of a grandfathered business use of their property. Combine that with the absolute absence of any land use permits issued to them by the City of Manteca and… you will get the picture. I drew one for you.

It is clear to me that your staff won’t move without direction from you. I request that this report be included – intact - in your next City Council meeting binder and a presentation or public hearing be set for this item on the next City Council agenda.



The report itself I will publish here next week after it has been delivered to the City Council.


It's nice when everyone is singing from the same page in the same hymnbook, so, to help the City council along a little bit, each of these people and organizations will receive a copy:

Distribution List

1. Willie Weatherford, Mayor
2. John Harris, Councilman
3. Vince Hernandez, Councilman
4. Debby Moorhead, Councilwoman
5. Steve DeBrum, Councilman

6. Steve Pinkerton, City Manager
7. Joann Tilton, City Clerk
8. Dave Bricker, Chief of Police
9. Rex Osborn, Police Department, Public Affairs
10. Greg Baird, Police Department, Code Enforcement
11. Mark Nelson, Community Development Department, Director
12. Mark Meissner, Community Development Department, Planning Manager
13. Lantz Rey, Community Development Department, Associate Planner
14. Alma Martinez, Community Development Department, Planning Technician
15. John Brinton, City Attorney

16. Jeff Carruesco, San Joaquin County, EHD, Program Coordinator
17. Greg Olivera, San Joaquin County, EHD

18. Lathrop-Manteca Sun Post, W Yosemite Ave, Manteca, CA (with press kit CD)
19. Manteca Bulletin, 531 E Yosemite Ave, Manteca, CA 95336,
209-249-3500 (with press kit CD)
20. Manteca Live! Joe DeAngelis (with press kit CD)
21. Tracy Press, 145 W. 10th St., P.O. Box 419, Tracy, CA 95378-0419,
209-835-3030 (with press kit CD)
22. The Record, Stockton, CA, 209-943-6397 (with press kit CD)

Honorees

Sheila Foster, Elia Court, Manteca, CA

Patty “Pit Bull” Letawsky, PO Box 177, Wilton, CA 95693


The first honoree on the list is a woman who stood to plead for help from the City Council to move her complaint along. She told the very familiar story of code enforcement officers seeing the same things she sees - a neighbor fixing cars and large appliances in his garage, these large articles strewn all around his property, day and night visitors racing their car engines, and amateur neighborhood surveillance to document possible drug dealing - but turning around and telling her there is nothing they can do.

Aiee! All they have to do is ask this guy for his business license! If he doesn't have one, start citing him, then fining him. How hard can that be!?

The other honoree is a young woman who spoke during a public hearing to dissuade the council from adopting a pit bull ordinance with "iffy" parts. She returned to the podium during the public comment portion to berate the City Council and Administration for being the "most dismissive" of any public body she has ever dealt with, bar none. (Not that it did any good... they just dismissed her.) She followed that with a similarly worded letter to the Sun-Post editor and, even though she is not a Manteca resident, I take heart from her fearless forthrightness.


.

JACKPOT! (Ka-ching... ka-ching... ka-ching...)

Nothing is sweeter than revising assumptions and revisiting unchallenged claims - and blowing those claims to hell!



Here I recap my progression from naïveté to hardened cynicism...






1. I originally assumed TLC Catering was a legal business, with law-abiding owners who had the necessary neighborliness to mitigate any noise or other nuisance their business might generate in a residential area. My neighbor, Lynda Allen, immediately gutted that assumption with her caustic and intimidating communication tactics. She stridently chanted her mantra, "I have a legally grandfathered business," while clutching and waving some yellowed papers in her ancient fingers. The City of Manteca had apparently given her some reason to believe that. Who was I to argue with both neighbor and City Hall?


2. I assumed a "legal business" would be subject to a City of Manteca noise ordinance. After suffering an insufferable summer of sleep deprivation caused by an equally ancient Scotsman commercial icemaker, improperly installed outdoors and too close to my fence line and house, I was driven to file a series of written complaints outlining the depth, breadth, and seriousness of the problem. The city ignored my initial letters and public statements at city council meetings. This led me to stumble upon the fact that this was a "new" noise ordinance, and never would apply to a grandfathered business. My research began in earnest. For many months - and until it was too late - the city did not even try to measure the noise nor to enforce the "old" ordinance.



3. I assumed a "legal business" would be subject to a City of Manteca business permit. Manteca personnel dispatched that thought with the simplistic argument that the "activity next door was not a business" and did not need a business permit because TLC Catering did not transact any retail sales in Manteca's city limits. The city has NEVER issued TLC Catering a Business Permit for Revenue, and still refuses to acknowledge all of the non-retail activities of an actively operating business by requiring a Business Permit for Regulation Only.



4. I assumed a "legal business" would be subject to a City of Manteca permit for a Home Occupation because business or non-business activity of a non-residential character in a residential zone requires one (also known as a Conditional Use Permit prior to 1992.) TLC Catering has NEVER had such a permit. Code enforcement officers, Manteca Chief of Police, Manteca planning (zoning) personnel, and the Manteca Director of Community Development have all waffled so badly with mealy-mouthed answers to this one that I am still unsure if they know what Municipal Code sections apply.



5. My research turned up a 1993 letter from the City wherein TLC Catering's operations were declared a "legal but non-conforming use" of property. (This must be where Lynda Allen's mantra came from.) I assumed that the TLC Catering commissary business expansion, which occurred in 1994, would be restricted from grandfathering according to the letter's explanation, or at least be subject to Manteca's 1992 Home Occupation ordinance. That supposition was blasted when a code enforcement officer took it upon himself to misinterpret common law and write, "I am not necessarily in agreement..." (I know where this one is going...)



Finally, I revisited the original assumption - grandfathering at annexation.



- - - - - IF:



* Prior to December 17, 1986,

* A catering truck business was operating on that property, and

* It was doing so legally,



- - - - - THEN, it would be grandfathered for:



* The continued use of that property,

* At no greater than existing level and scope of business use,

* By the current and subsequent property owners,

* Until the non-conforming use ceases.



JACKPOT!

Until now, I have never argued that TLC Catering was an illegal business; only that its use of residential property was illegal. I have questioned the legality of the business expansion resulting in a full commissary on the property. But now it appears that the entire business - all operations, assets, equipment (especially the icemaker), and large and small business jetsam - is illegally occupying a residential property.

The only question remaining is: Did Lewis Mego and Anne Mego, the former property owners, operate a legal catering truck business on the property on December 17, 1986, and until they sold the property to Lynda Allen and Theresa Brassey eleven months later, on November 10, 1987?

If the Mego's had a catering truck business AND a legal land use permit from San Joaquin County, then that business use would be grandfathered. However, all indications so far are that my neighbors purchased the property from the Mego's and THEN began to establish an unpermitted and illegal business operation on residential property within Manteca city limits.

.

Stay tuned for the next episode of this long-running soap opera...

.

Double Talk by the Double Dipper

Now this is a true multitasker! Even while the inventive O. Rex lamely attempts to distance himself from the freshly unearthed last-minute campaign contribution subterfuge by claiming, "I don't mix church and state" (What did he say???), he spins around and reinvents the ongoing illegalities of TLC Catering and its owners. In response to my posting a complaint of two big pieces of abandoned commercial equipment, comes this unsigned answer, hot off the Government Outreach website (aka, "Make-the-Citizens-Think-We're-Listening" system.)



Dear Richard,

Your request # 197457 has been resolved with the resolution:


After recently checking into a similar situation regarding PODS, I have been told by planning that there is no specific prohibition of a shipping container on residential property. There is also nothing that requires that the "walk-in refrigerator/freezer" actually be used for any specific purpose, and therefore, is not illegal.

(Hah! thinks he. City-2, Whiner-0!)

Wow! From what evolutionary epoch does this lethargic, reptilian thinking spring? The fact that the period of time when these freezers WERE used for their specifically designed and intended purpose was an illegal business use, is somehow forgotten and forgiven when the freezers are abandoned and, therefore, now being "legal" need not be removed? What is the intent of Chapter 17.53, Property Maintenance, and why does our twice-paid code guru not understand it and dismiss complaints so lightly? Just because some dillweed debutantes "convert" business assets to personal use (ie., abandonment), the relics no longer contribute to property degradation, or present a public nuisance? Perhaps it is just another ordinary case of Manteca's resident psychotics collecting giant metal boxes with compressors on top for no purpose except to enhance the aesthetics of their back yard?

Go ahead, Mantecans, hang your (clean) laundry out to dry in your front yard and see what happens.

Chasing the rabbit down the hole

Ouch! That verbal slash-and-burn taught me not to engage my neighbor again. But, where does one go with an unresolved noise complaint? Why, City Hall, of course!

On March 4th I visited the city's Planning Department with the intent of obtaining a zoning variance and a permit to build a freeway-style sound wall between me and my neighbors, high enough to block the roof-mounted condenser noise and long enough to provide a "noise shadow" for my house. The Associate Planner with whom I spoke redirected me away from that costly (and probably unfeasible) plan and toward filing a noise complaint. Just bring him a letter and he would enter the complaint onto the city's government outreach website. I returned the next day with my first letter to the city. Sure enough, on March 11th he opened the complaint. It all appeared so easy - an appropriate person from the city would investigate the problem, resolve it, and close the case number on the system.


Here is my letter:

March 5, 2008

City of Manteca, Community Development Department
Attn: Lantz Rey
1001 W Center St
Manteca, CA 95337

Re: Complaint of noise from 810 Fishback Street and TLC Catering, property and business owned by Lynda S Allen and Theresa A Brassey.

Dear Mr. Rey,

I appreciate you and others in your department taking a few minutes yesterday to help me examine my options concerning my neighbors. It is not my intent to put them out of business, but it is my intent to get some peaceful relief from the noise caused by it.

I purchased and took possession of my property at 786 Fishback Street on March 5, 2007. Several daytime visits to the property the month previous with a realtor did not reveal the extent of the noise problem from the adjoining property, and it was omitted from the seller's disclosures during the purchase. The first few nights in my house were eye-opening, but the summer of 2007 was completely miserable. Here are some things I learned during my one year of living next door:

1. A retail business (one or more catering trucks) is housed at 810 Fishback Street, operating under a home occupation permit "grandfathered" by City of Manteca when this area was annexed from the County of San Joaquin in 2005 (Area 148, 2005-03, Airport Way/Yosemite Avenue Island.)
2. An outbuilding close to the common property line fence has a refrigeration unit on its roof, above the fence and overlooking my house and yard. It cools a walk-in refrigerator to support the retail business. The unit cycles on and off as necessary to maintain storage temperatures – obviously moreso during the summer than the winter. Hot summer days – and nights – cause it to run almost continuously.
3. The walkway between the outbuilding and the fence houses a commercial style icemaker (compressor, storage bin, etc.) The walkway is partially closed off at the end with siding to protect the icemaker and is covered with a corrugated fiberglass roof, from the outbuilding's eaves to the fence, which effectively focuses the compressor noise toward and over the wooden fence. As ice melts or is removed to stock the truck(s), the icemaker cycles on and off to produce more ice – again, moreso during the summer than the winter. The owner has stated that to run the icemaker during the day causes it to overheat, therefore it is run mostly at night. In production mode, the icemaker runs about a 20-minute cycle – 7 minutes on, 13 minutes off, 7 minutes on, etc.
4. Weekday preparation of the truck(s) begins at 12:00 midnight and aims for a 4:00 a.m. departure. The one-person task produces negligible noise, except for the transfer of ice from the icemaker to the truck(s). Scooping ice into 5-gallon plastic buckets and dropping the insulated access door back into place produces quite the racket just prior to 4:00 a.m. In addition, the unit cycles back on again to replace the ice used.
5. There are no midnight preparations for weekends and holidays, but the walk-in refrigerator is still temperature controlled and the icemaker will still produce ice as needed to keep food on the truck(s) cold.
6. The bedrooms of my house are on the side of the house facing the common fence, fourteen feet away. My bedroom windows are about twenty-four feet from the icemaker. Sleeping with the windows open is simply not an option. In fact, sleeping requires that my windows be closed and a fan be used to provide air circulation and “white noise” to drown out the "60-cycle hum" of two electric compressors a few feet away.
7. The two compressors are not synchronized or coordinated - each can start up at any time and is independent of the other. The unpredictability is as unnerving as the noise.
8. These compressors are not ordinary air conditioners used for the comfort, health, and well-being of residents of the house. I am sure some personal use of ice and refrigerated storage exists, but the machinery's primary purpose is the conduct of business.
9. The portion of my yard between house and fence is virtually useless to me due to the noise produced by the compressors.
10. As an informational note, there is another walk-in box with a roof-mounted compressor in the same area. It is shielded (weather and noise) toward my neighbors’ house, but not toward my yard. To my knowledge, this third compressor has not been operated during the last year, but a date stenciled on it (8-29-05) indicates when it was last serviced.

The rules changed for TLC Catering when Manteca annexed these parcels, and "grandfathering" a permit for this type of home occupation in a residential area does not give them a free pass on other ordinances. On Sunday, March 2, 2008, I spoke personally with one of the owners about the noise from the compressor units. Much to my surprise, I was met with palpable hostility. I was flatly informed that they ran a permitted “grandfathered” business and they would make no changes whatsoever (such as, restrictions on time of unit operation, location of units, etc.) When I mentioned the City of Manteca noise ordinance, the retort included the accusation, “If you’re threatening me …,” and the conversation ended badly and abruptly.

Research of public records on the San Joaquin County website and in the County Recorder’s Office in Stockton reveals a couple of doggedly determined women who will do whatever it takes to conserve their capital and preserve their livelihood. I admit an admiration for them and their achievement over the years. Kudos to them.

But none of this helps me sleep at night, and I have suffered mentally and physically for it. I really do not care what business activity goes on next door - if Manteca permits it. I just don't want to listen to it, especially the loud, incessant, bothersome cycling of industrial compressors outside my window during nighttime hours.

My only choice is to file this noise complaint with the City of Manteca and seek its assistance to resolve this problem.

_________________
Richard W. Behling

This is the Associate Planner's entry:

Request #: 127445 Entered: 03/11/2008 1:27 PM
Status: Closed
Request Type: Complaint
Topic: Noise (other than animals)
Incident Time: Continuous
Incident Date:
Description: From: Lantz Rey in the Planning Division

On March 5th I received a letter from Richard Behling who lives at 786 Fishback Road. Mr. Behling had previously been into City hall to talk with Planning about putting up a masonry wall between his property and 810 Fishback. Mr. Behling's complaint is that the 810 Fishback property is home to a commercial catering business. This business operates catering trucks and has a commercial commissary on-site. As such, the business has two or three compressors required to maintain the temperature in the walk-in refrigerator and automatic ice maker that operate through out the night. These compressors are less than 20' from his bedroom and are keeping him awake (outlined in the letter).

As outlined in the email sent to Rex Osborn this morning, the business owners have a permit from the health department to operate in this location. However, the business does not have a valid business license and (even if the use is grandfathered) is exceeding provisions of the noise ordinance.

Mr. Behling can be reached on his cell phone at xxx.xxx.xxxx.

Respectfully,

Lantz Rey
City of Manteca, Associate Planner

Things immediately took a turn for the worse on March 12th. A police officer was assigned to visit my neighbors and inspect their permits as part of the needed background information check. Based on later research, I'm confident they showed him health department sanitation permits and a business permit from a nearby town, and emphatically repeated that they had a legal, grandfathered business. They got him so riled up with claims that I was harassing them - calling the police on them being proof of it - that he exceeded his mission, came over to my place, and banged on my door. I was preparing to leave for a meeting elsewhere, but I spoke with him and gave him a quick tour of the physical layout before walking out front with him. The Alpha female intercepted us and verbally prodded me until I lost control for a moment. Her main techniques were to soundlessly mouth inflammatory words at me whenever the police officer was not looking at her, and to throw out accusations shotgun-style and retreat in the resulting confusion. The "Gotcha!" smile which flashed across her face claimed victory. (Note to self: In any meeting with the Alpha female, require a non-participating observer who has this woman in clear view.) She returned to her house, but peeked through the blinds as we continued our conversation. The officer told me he could do nothing about the noise on this or any subsequent calls unless I signed a citizen's arrest warrant. I had to go.


The officer must have stayed longer and again spoken with the woman because on the following Sunday morning two of the women were out installing one 4x8 sheet of 1/4-inch plywood next to the fence and directly in front of the icemaker. That single, thin sheet was supposed to block the noise?! This minimalist effort was something the officer mentioned to me the previous Wednesday. Whew! Talk about an evasive maneuver, designed only to head off any real solution. At first I was furious at the crushing cynicism and absolute stupidity of their action, but quickly changed that to laughter, thinking that anyone with any intelligence would see through it. Wait until you see who bought into this lie.