Editorial: Construction noise and quality of life
I wrote an email to the mail list for the North Berkeley street that I live on saying that construction projects are a fact of life in California towns like the one we live in. I know because I’ve been living in California for 30-plus years, and it seems if it isn’t rainy season there are a bunch of hellacious construction projects going on nearby.
One of my neighbors appeared at the front door, hysterically ringing on the doorbell. I’m greeted downstairs with his anger. “I have a right to do this,” he yells. “And I have a right to say it sucks,” I say.
Never ring a neighbor’s doorbell in anger. Please. Count to 10.
In the mid-90s I lived next door to a high-school-sized project. Sunday morning at 7AM they’re out with the bulldozers. I called 911, fed up, not wanting to fully wake up after a night out. Later that day the neighbor is yelling at me for calling the cops. I should have called him, he says. He should go to hell, I think.
Yes, they have the right to do these projects. But they ruin the quality of life here. I’ve been wanting to say that publicly for some time. Now I have.
I don’t know the rules, but they must prohibit construction at 7:40AM and on Sunday mornings.
We live in paradise. But we also live in hell.
“I can get through this.” I’ll just turn up the music. Turn on a fan. Wear noise-cancelling headphones. Travel.
Last week I was in Boston and New York. The peace and quiet. Coming home, the cab dropped me off in front of my house. For a moment I was fooled. Took a deep breath. Home sweet home. Then I heard the drill next door. The peace shattered, I remembered why I dread living here.
I’ve done one very short construction project of my own on a house I bought in 1992 in Woodside. Other than that I’ve been on the receiving end.
What are the rules? Maybe we need some new ones. Or just a little compromising or understanding. Appreciation for our community.
I think at a minimum we should have the same information about the project that they have. If they know the crew will be working on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the neighbors should know too. Maybe we should have two months of the year when you can’t do projects so that neighborhoods could enjoy at least some of the sunny season. What about people who move out of the neighborhood while their house is under construction. I understand they can’t live in the house, but it seems a bit unfair that they don’t have to deal with the noise they inflict on their community.
Maybe there should be a cost for excessive noise. An incentive to keep it quieter. I love weekends here. I look forward to rainy season.
I think one thing we can ask for is that the people with the projects at least listen to the people who are effected by their projects. You shouldn’t be able to send a contractor or architect around to notify people about your project. When that happens I refuse to sign the form they put in front of me. I give them my number and ask that the homeowner give a call. It seems pretty basic, no?
Update: Construction suckage extends to the UC campus.
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Generally speaking, construction permits entail hour of day limitations on noise. 7AM on a Sunday was almost certainly in violation. The neighbor was, I surmise, pissed at you not because his permit was revoked or even that he was cited – but that he was threatened with citation and probably lost a few hundred bucks to idled labor.
I think you did the right thing. When new folks move into the apartment building I live in, that’s one of the things I try to teach them: Berkeley cops (usually) exercise discretion well and it is better to, when in doubt, call them in as mediators rather than either go down the slippery slope of letting problems escalate or confront perpetrators yourself. I should point out that for things like noise complaints, please don’t use 911 but instead look at the opening pages of your phone book and call the NON-EMERGENCY number.
Notification requirements are in place. There *should* be prominently posted yellow-background announcements before a project goes forward – giving you a chance to go and object before the zoning / permitting folks. It’s not quite so realistic to wish for a kind of Mayberry RFD situation where the owner walks around the ‘hood informing everyone because there is no shortage of people who, given the invitation, will object to and fight anything and everything just to cause problems. The worst case is that someone comes along and convinces the city (against all common sense) to forcibly declare your property “historic” and yank your permits and impose preservation requirements.
Finally, transgressions happen but most of what I’ve seen is the opposite. I’ve seen a lot of professionalism and reasonableness. Two construction projects flanked my current place over the past year. It’s sort of amusing, really – you can almost set your watch by them. Workers start mustering around 7:30 or 8. You might hear the first few taps of a hammer or something around 8:50 or 8:20 (depending on the permit). And then when the hour starts they start in earnest and finish on time. I think it is at least substantially the willingness of our cops to come have chats with transgressors that gives rise to such disciplined crews.
You do have to put up with a certain amount of noise mid-day. That’s urban life, of course. If you want mostly silence you have to give up city life.
-t
For three years, I lived in a co-op alongside Memorial Stadium. It was quiet and idyllic, except on game days, but that was exciting and I always knew when I’d wake up to marching band music. The last year was the pits because security guards from the stadium would yell across the late night to each other and then at 7am I would wake up to jack hammering or whatever sort of racket it was. We tried to work with the university to start at 8, considering that we were students and most students don’t wake up at 7, but to no avail. At one point, I was sitting in my dining room and my chair vibrated from their breaking up concrete 40 feet away.
I also wrote this blog post in frustration: http://clog.dailycal.org/2009/06/28/you-suck-construction-on-campus/
I find this post surprising for several reasons. First, because of what I have interpreted as a somewhat pro-growth, pro-construction, anti-NIMBY slant to this blog, I assumed that you, Dave, would be opposed to complaints like…well, complaints like the one you are making. Now, I’m not sure what to think about your views overall. Not that that’s important, I enjoy the blog anyway and find it informative.
Another reason I find this post surprising is that…jeez, you called 911 about construction noise? I was always taught and told that 911 is who you call if there is an imminent threat to life or property. I absolutely approve of calling the police about construction noise (or about a neighbor having a loud late-night party, for that matter), but please, don’t call 911. The number for the Berkeley Police is in your phone book, available online, and also available through information.
And, finally…this stuff bothers you so much, and you’re a skilled user of The Intertubes, but you haven’t somehow found the Berkeley Noise Ordinance? Search for [City of Berkeley Noise Ordinance] and see what you find. Among other things, you will find the construction noise standards at http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Health_Human_Services/Level_3_-_General/Construction%20Noise%20Standard.pdf which includes the (in your case useful) information that construction on Sunday cannot start before 9am and must end before 8pm.
In spite of the somewhat testy tone of this comment, which I have noticed in retrospect, Iove the blog, keep it up.
@Phil Price
Amen brother. Too much “Dear lazyweb, please clue me in” here. I mean that kindly and constructively — been there done that, have my grey hairs and lots of years logged so I know how it goes but… hurry along, inBerkeley guys – catch up!
-t
I have a neighbor who for the past 5 years has had construction going on for probably 4 1/2 of those years. 6 months to renovate this, 2 months of silence, 5 months of renovating that, etc. For the past 6 months of work, they were living somewhere else, while we had to take the brunt of the noise. I don’t think they use licensed contractors, a truck will pull up and a guy will do some work for a few days, then come back a week later and work a few days more. I wish this neighbor would just go balls out for 3 months and get it over with. I work from home most days, so it kills me. It’s like Chinese water torchure. Thump thump thump, silence, thump thump thump, silence, thump etc.
I’ve tried talking to the neighbor but they just say they are sorry and it goes on. I never thought to call the police, most days they at least start within the legal times. I just don’t want to be that douchey neighbor who always call the cops over any little thing. Plus, I live in West Berkeley where having 5-7 cop cars parked on our street is a weekly event. So I don’t want to waste their time on trivial issues, that might work in the hills, but not here in the flatlands.
You’ve heard the joke about Berkeley:
Why do we have so many contractors and therapists?
Because everyone thinks they can fix everything.
As Thomas notes above, there are rules about hours etc. Can the building inspector. He’ll be very happy to write a ticket because the city is low on funds.
On my street, UC berkeley, and the local high-rise apartment landlord have been in constant construction for 12 years straight. First one, then the other. Then back again. But they also use professional construction companies that work from 8-4 monday through friday.
The street is one way, has two rows of parking, and two lanes for driving. At least one lane of parking and one lane for driving has been closed the entire time, for staging. It’s just free space right? The traffic problem, the idea that from my driveway to the end of the block might take oh, 4 stop lights to get through, for say 18 months at a time? No big deal.
Thank god therapy doesn’t make noise or shut down streets. Or we would never get anywhere.
Welcome to Berkeley.