On Monday, the City Council will be examining public noise disturbance from construction and industrial activities and whether the city noise ordinance should be revised. The existing city code is lax, (construction is allowed from 7 AM to 10 PM) but greater regulation is opposed by the city administration.  This is no surprise since the city often asks for variances from the existing noise ordinance, most recently with regard to construction at Boulevard Park.  

I support greater restrictions on construction and industrial noise to protect the public. This change is needed to reflect the reality that we no longer live in a sleepy little college town.  However, this issue raises larger problems regarding the city’s failure to address the impacts of infill and growth.

The city’s approach to infill and density is neither realistic nor sustainable. The city wants to create a favorable environment for more business, more growth, more construction, more people and more density without acknowledging that there are impacts to the quality of life for existing residents.  Without regulations to protect more people living in less space, residents will seek relief in the outlying suburbs, creating sprawl.  This will undermine the purpose and intention of infill.

I live in Silver Beach. For the last few years, I have been subjected to construction noise, particularly in the summer.  It occurs at Bloedel Park, on North Shore Road, at new home construction sites uphill, and during continual home improvement projects and remodeling in the homes all around me.  I hear the sounds of yard work by neighbors with oversized gas-powered equipment.  Traffic noise increases as more people visit Lake Whatcom, Whatcom Fall Park and Bloedel Park.

And the more that Bellingham grows, the more likely construction activities will also grow given the need for repairs, improvements, additions and maintenance.   It becomes more likely that noise, traffic, dust, fumes, chemicals and lighting from construction will become a nuisance or a health problem for greater numbers of residents. 

Air quality impacts, a given with more growth, are dangerous for residents like me who have respiratory disease. For example, the city ground clearing restrictions address stormwater concerns, not air quality. The city does not restrict the number of construction projects that can occur within a particular radius to protect air quality. Nor does the city consider the increased air quality impacts from new homes and new residents who are driving more cars, burning wood in fireplaces, BBQs, bon fires, or removing trees and vegetation.  These type of “intensity of use” impacts also result from redevelopment.

Currently, the city noise ordinance does not protect the needs of residential home owners. I would like to be able to start relaxing in the evening by 10 PM.  However, my bedroom window is about 15-20 feet from my neighbor’s trampoline and basketball hoop.  Only two days ago I was subjected to my neighbor’s daughter and her friend jumping and screaming at 12 AM.  When I have complained to the city about this, I was advised to call the police and “keep a log.”   

This is not effective zoning and it does not protect my rights and my health. It is unfair to put me in direct conflict with my neighbor. The city needs to have quiet hours after 9 PM and quantifiable standards that the police can enforce.  Noise restrictions should extend to noise from the neighbors that can be heard through the walls of your own residence, regardless of source, or distance. If your neighbor is 5 feet away, that is the noise distance that must be respected. If you do not understand this, then you have probably never been subjected to the problem on a repeated basis.

The city also needs to look at problems created by light pollution. When I moved into my home, the prior owner used wood blinds.  As more people moved in and left security lights on all night, I had to replace the wood blinds with light filtering blinds. I am now replacing the light filtering blinds with light blocking blinds.  It interferes with healthy circadian rhythms to sleep in a room that does not fill with light in the morning, but this is the only way I can obtain darkness necessary to fall asleep at night. The light pollution also interferes with bird migration patterns and has impacts on other local wildlife. These impacts are absolutely unnecessary, and residents should be required to use motion sensors on outdoor lighting.

There is an economic justice issue raised by the city’s failure to impose reasonable urban level noise/light/air quality standards. Developers profit without having to deal with the impacts of their actions. Affluent people generally live on larger lots and are not as affected by infill, or have the financial ability to relocate to a new home.

By failing to protect Bellingham residents from the impacts of infill and development, the most vulnerable populations are subjected to potential quality of life and health impacts, without any recourse. And failing to ensure that infill includes measures to minimize “neighbor to neighbor” conflicts undermines the purpose of urban growth by encouraging escape to larger lots with more open space.

How long will it take before the city is willing to address this problem? I have lost all patience.