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Entry tags:
noise
One of the buildings next to our house is a small apartment building (remodelled house) with a business on the first floor. I've never seen the landlord and don't know if he even lives in the city. Everything else on the block is pure residential, mostly single-family homes. (There's one duplex.)
The guys who take care of the lawn for the apartment have an annoying habit of going off early in the morning. That lawnmower is loud, and our bedroom is on that side of the house. (And changing that isn't feasible, really.)
So this morning on my way to work I stopped by for a friendly chat. I laid on all the diplomacy -- and got told, essentially, to shove off. The guy in charge (an older fellow with a heavy Italian accent who refused to share his name) said -- unprovoked, in my opinion -- that "there's nothing you can do to us because we can start making noise at 7am".
I disbelieve, but the city zoning code is awkwardly written so I can't tell. It also specifies noise level limits in decibels, which makes me wonder what gadget I could acquire that would measure that. Different parts of the code give limits of 45db and 55db, and I'd bet that this lawn mower violates at least one if not both. (And that's through windows, but the code says you measure at the property line so it would be even worse outdoors.)
I don't want to have a fight with my neighbors; I tried very hard to avoid appearing at all confrontational this morning, and I think the reaction I got was the worker's problem, not something I did. I guess the next step is to track down the owner and write a very nice letter asking if he could please have his workers come later. Meanwhile, though, I should arm myself with the relevant facts
The guys who take care of the lawn for the apartment have an annoying habit of going off early in the morning. That lawnmower is loud, and our bedroom is on that side of the house. (And changing that isn't feasible, really.)
So this morning on my way to work I stopped by for a friendly chat. I laid on all the diplomacy -- and got told, essentially, to shove off. The guy in charge (an older fellow with a heavy Italian accent who refused to share his name) said -- unprovoked, in my opinion -- that "there's nothing you can do to us because we can start making noise at 7am".
I disbelieve, but the city zoning code is awkwardly written so I can't tell. It also specifies noise level limits in decibels, which makes me wonder what gadget I could acquire that would measure that. Different parts of the code give limits of 45db and 55db, and I'd bet that this lawn mower violates at least one if not both. (And that's through windows, but the code says you measure at the property line so it would be even worse outdoors.)
I don't want to have a fight with my neighbors; I tried very hard to avoid appearing at all confrontational this morning, and I think the reaction I got was the worker's problem, not something I did. I guess the next step is to track down the owner and write a very nice letter asking if he could please have his workers come later. Meanwhile, though, I should arm myself with the relevant facts
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b) I'm thinking that you *can* do something about this. Try phoning the Mayor's Hotline and seeing what direction they point you in.
c) I hope that the landlord is less of a moron than his worker.
d) There are meters that measure decibles, I just don't know what they are called.
That's my disjointed .02
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no subject
followup
From: [somebody]@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
Subject: RE: Mayors Service Center Request Form
> What are the guidelines/rules for how much noise
> can be made during which hours in residential
> neighborhoods? For example, how early in the
> morning may I mow my lawn?
Usually it's 7:00 a.m., but I would probably wait
until 8:00 a.m. to be nice in some areas.
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Pollution
(I'm also against light pollution... it's shameful how few people in the US can really see the stars... And of course, I'm not too keen on "traditional" air & water pollution either)