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Construction noise a concern

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Staff

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

When many Carrboro residents think about the developments planned for downtown, the questions that tend to come to mind address what it will look like, what businesses it will bring, how much parking will be available and how traffic will be affected.

But how the developments will affect their surrounding areas while under construction – which can take many months or even years – is a question for Carrboro’s more immediate future.

Four major developments are on the horizon for downtown Carrboro, with nearly 700,000 square feet of commercial and residential developments approved in the past year.

Last fall, the board of aldermen approved The Alberta, a 46,360-square-foot residential and commercial project to be built on the corner of Roberson Street and Sweet Bay Place.

In February, the board voted to approve Roberson Square, a five-story condominium, office and retail project on South Greensboro Street on the site of the old Andrews-Riggsbee hardware store. Construction on the 91,575-square-foot project could start before the end of this year.

Then in August, the board approved The Butler, a 22,170-square-foot condominium and commercial complex. The site is on Brewer Lane, adjacent to the Libba Cotton Bike Path.

Following approval of The Butler, the board of aldermen took on one of the biggest commercial developments in Carrboro history – 300 East Main – and approved it in late September. The 507,500-square-foot project is on 5.24 acres extending from the intersection of Main and Boyd streets near Nice Price Books to the present municipal parking lot on the corner of Main and Roberson streets. It includes a 150-room hotel, a five-story parking deck, a central pedestrian plaza, three large commercial buildings and extensive changes for Cat’s Cradle and The ArtsCenter. Developers hope to begin construction on the first phase of the project early next year.

Just over the town line in Chapel Hill, construction is well underway on the Greenbridge, a project on Rosemary Street between North Merritt Mill Road and North Graham Street, and night work has begun twice a week from 2 to 7 a.m. Francis Chan, a resident of Carrboro, owns a 17-unit apartment building adjacent to the Greenbridge. He said the night work is exceedingly loud and worries the noise will drive his residents away.

Greenbridge developers received a noise ordinance variance from the Town of Chapel Hill for the night work, which involves pouring large amounts of concrete and blocking off portions of Graham Street and Merritt Mill Road.

According to Kumar Neppalli, engineering services manager with the Town of Chapel Hill, the developers received the variance because developers and officials didn’t want to affect the nearby businesses.

“Having many, many concrete trucks there during the day can have a serious impact on the businesses,” he said. The town also wants to minimize the traffic disruption.

However, Chan said the noise is “unreal,” with levels reaching more than 90 decibels at certain points in the night. The Town of Chapel Hill’s noise ordinance limits noise to 45 decibels at night and 50 decibels during the day.

Chan does not live in the complex, but monitored the noise levels during the first night of work. He presented a petition to the Chapel Hill Town Council last week and plans to speak with the council again on Monday.

“People are entitled to peace and quiet,” he said. “I don’t mind if they work late … but please don’t do it at night when people are sleeping.”

Neppalli said the town plans to closely monitor the night work and can revise the variance given to the developer if necessary.

Marty Roupe, development review administrator for the Town of Carrboro, said the town hasn’t yet received a request from any of the developers of the planned projects for such a variance.

Many details and conditions are already included in the plans of each development submitted to the board for approval, but developers must submit a construction management plan before beginning work on the projects. A request for a noise-ordinance waiver would be included in the plan.

“It’s hypothetically possible something like that might be possible over here,” Roupe said. However: “No developer has mentioned anything like that.… I don’t anticipate anyone asking for it.”

The Town of Carrboro’s noise ordinance prohibits noise that is “sufficiently loud to frighten or pose a danger to the health of or seriously disturb any person” or “louder, or of greater duration, or otherwise more disturbing than is reasonably necessary for the performance of some lawful public or private function, enterprise, operation or activity.”

Roupe said developers must also submit traffic management plans with their construction plans, so the town is able to weigh how best to route construction trucks through Carrboro.

In addition, the board of aldermen included conditions in some of the projects’ permits requiring developers to post contact information if residents have complaints of concerns about construction.

“The board imposed a condition [for 300 East Main] requiring that contact information for the developer be posted on site and be available at any and all times,” Roupe said. “That seems to be the approach the board is at least currently taking.”

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