Residents Voice Concerns Over Noise

CITRUS HEIGHTS, Calif. -- A permit was approved for a carwash in spite of a petition and an appeal to the Citrus Heights City Council.

On July 24, the Citrus Heights City Council granted the Pastor family a conditional-use permit needed to build a carwash at its multifaceted strip center near Sunrise Boulevard and Old Auburn Road.

The one-stop center features a gas station, a large convenience store complete with coffee bar, a full-service automobile repair shop, a propane distributorship, a Penske rental truck business and a busy Carl's Jr. restaurant with a drive-through window and landscaped outside dining area.

The property also contains a groundwater pumping station placed there to clean up damage from a leaking underground gasoline storage tank from the service station.

The carwash use permit was granted by the Citrus Heights Planning Commission on June 13 after being challenged by David and Maran Perez, who live on Clovis Court behind the cluster of businesses owned by the Pastor family.

The Perezes raised concerns about the noise produced by the many businesses concentrated just beyond their back yard as well as the groundwater pumps, which "are allowed to run 24-seven," David Perez said.

Delivery, rental and garbage trucks dropping Dumpsters on the pavement are noise concerns, as are the compressed air tools used by the Pastor mechanics, David Perez said.

When contemplating a carwash, the couple think about the noise of the machinery as well as noise from cars and car stereos that could be played to a high volume.

"None of the noises were dominant in my mind until now," Perez said.

The dispute features dueling petitions, with 29 of the Perezes' neighbors signing a petition protesting construction of the carwash and the Pastors presenting a multiple-page petition from customers supporting a carwash on the property.

After the Planning Commission ruled against the Perezes, the couple filed an appeal to the City Council. The appeal was denied July 24 on a 3-1 vote with Councilman Bret Daniels dissenting.

The entire process has left the couple feeling like they have "been walked on" by the city, David Perez said.

"This is really a tough one," said property owner Steve Pastor. "We don't want to create a noise problem for any of our neighbors."

Steve is the patriarch of the Pastor family. He started out running a Hancock gas station at Greenback Lane and Sunrise Boulevard in 1964.

"I was selling gas at 29 cents a gallon," Pastor said.

He leased the corner lot at Sunrise Boulevard and Old Auburn Road in 1975, selling gasoline under the Exxon banner -- before construction of the apartment complex just south of the property, or the housing development that includes Clovis Court.

Over time he acquired the property and, in 1997-98, developed the center as it is now. Pastor said he met with the Perez family in 1997 and showed them the plans for the center's development before David and Maran Perez purchased their home.

During past discussions, elected officials and city planners have described the Pastor business center as an example of the type of commercial development they would like to see in other areas of the city.

Randy Pastor, Steve's son, helps manage the diverse businesses. He said that the council added additional noise controls to "five pages of conditions" required by the Planning Commission.

Some of the noise mitigation measures will include placing silencers on the carwash fans, noise-deadening panels on the walls of the carwash tunnel and construction of a sound barrier near the carwash's exit. The sound wall also will be bolstered on one side so it is of equal height across the entire back end of the property.

Randy Pastor said he has talked to delivery and garbage truck drivers about making their rounds at more acceptable hours. He is contemplating the purchase of "silencers" for the mechanic's compressed-air tools.

Maintaining a good relationship with the adjoining residential neighborhood is a priority.

"I am trying to work everything I can. These people are customers. Neighbors are the lifeblood of a neighborhood business," Randy Pastor said.

Source: The Sacramento Bee

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines

Read Comments [0]