The diesel generator purchased from Covington Diesel (www.covingtondiesel.com) provides power to the huge buildings, only a few of which are seen in the video.
During power outages, the generator runs 24/7. Power outages can occur at any time and for a variety of reasons: blackouts like those that have occurred around the country, ice storms, and hurricanes; or for any other severe weather condition. A power interruption can occur for an unknown reason, but the consequences are the same: A noise that is so loud that it should be regulated by a noise ordinance, but isn’t.
As a lawyer for the architect of River Landing at Sandy Ridge stated, he would go to a motel to stay when the generator is running.
Imagine on a sweltering day a blackout occurs. The huge complex next to our house runs their 7500 kW generator to provide power to their buildings, which would include air conditioning. But we have no electrical power to our home, and no means to provide power. If we raise our windows, the noise from the generator is deafening. What can we do? Go to a motel like the lawyer said he would do?
Is it fair and just to place someone in position to leave their home because of a nuisance that someone else is creating? Especially when the noise can be attenuated by River Landing?
Surely the noise is a nuisance to the residences of River Landing. However, under oath, testimony was given that there have been no complaints from the residences. But then testimony was also given by the Defendants that the generator was not loud.
The generator is tested at least once a week for a period of 30-45 minutes. We have no control over when this testing occurs or for how long.
River Landing is a tax-exempt nonprofit retirement facility. Real estate and property taxes not paid by River Landing must be compensated for by those who do pay taxes, i.e. you and me. Since River Landing is getting a free ride, it seems that they would have an obligation, legal and otherwise, not to be a nuisance. Where is the North Carolina Department of Facility Services?
Lawyers for River Landing would have us believe that the generator provides power for just the very ill. Are these huge buildings filled with only sick people? According to the facility manager, residences of the cottages (not shown in the video) are accommodated by providing space for anyone who wants to stay in the large buildings during a power outage. Isn’t this providing power to all residences during power outages? We believe it is.
River Landing is associated with the Presbyterian Church. Is not “love thy neighbor” an important tenant of the Christian Church? Is causing problems and distress to a neighbor fulfilling Christ’s commandment?
Cooling Tower Noise
The cooling tower is a Baltimore Aircoil (BAC) 3000 model, (www.baltimoreaircoil.com/english/index.html).
This cooling tower is a huge piece of equipment that sits on a pad on the ground. It somehow extracts moisture from the buildings and pumps cool air back in. It is a glorified, sophisticated air conditioner. It looks like something from Star Wars.
We hear it running from April through the first of November. It is especially loud from June through September when the temperature is high as well as the humidity. It also rattles. You can hear the rattle in the video.
In a word, it is a nuisance.
There have been reports from all around about neighbors being confronted with the noise from cooling towers. As urban areas encroach on rural areas, private citizens are confronted with this type man-made noise.
There was a situation in Greensboro, NC where the company, Ralph Lauren Polo, located a warehouse near an apartment complex. The residences of the apartment complex complained about the noise from the cooling tower. Ralph Lauren’s response was: We want to be good neighbors. We will do whatever it takes to fix the problem. And they did.
How different from the Presbyterian Home/River Landing folks. They ignored our letters and pleas for resolution.
A similar situation to ours existed in Richmond, Va. This involved a Methodist retirement community. Following is an article that appeared in The Richmond Times Dispatch and appears on Noise Pollution Clearinghouse (NPC):
Virginia Residents Consider Suing Retirement Home Over Noise From Cooling Tower
PUBLICATION: The Richmond Times Dispatch
DATE: July 22, 1998
SECTION: Henrico Plus, Pg. L-1
BYLINE: Wes Allison
DATELINE: Richmond, Virginia area
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Susan and John Vonderlehr, residents; Andrea Stiles, attorney for the residents
The Richmond Times Dispatch reports that residents near Richmond, Virginia, in western Henrico County, are considering suing an upscale retirement community behind their homes over noise from the retirement home's cooling tower. The article says the homeowners' association recently hired a lawyer, and is considering asking officials to cite the retirement home under the county's noise ordinance.
According to the article, residents of Dover Hunt Place have complained for almost two years about the persistent noise from the cooling tower at The Hermitage at Cedarfield. Resident Susan Vonderlehr said, "We cannot open our windows. We've been patient. We've gone through almost three years of letter-writing and responses." Vonderlehr said the noise is like an idling tractor-trailer truck, and is constant during the spring, summer, and fall it's virtually constant. Andrea Stiles, an attorney for the residents and a resident of Dover Hunt Place, sent a letter to Cedarfield representatives saying that the noise from the cooling tower violates the county noise ordinance. That ordinance prohibits noise "of such character, intensity and duration as to be detrimental to the life or health of any person, or to unreasonably disturb or annoy the quiet, comfort or repose of any person." Stiles said, "When your children complain about the noise, when you can't have peace and quiet outside your home, when you can hear it when your windows are shut," something must be done. She added, "Nobody wants to take this to court, but the situation is truly intolerable. The people who are directly affected cannot stand it."
The article explains that The Hermitage at Cedarfield opened in September 1996 and is the largest and newest of six retirement communities owned by the Virginia United Methodist Homes, an affiliate of the United Methodist Church. The community has 85 cottages, 311 apartments, 42 assisted-living apartments, 60 nursing home beds, and a small unit for Alzheimer's patients. About 515 residents live there, and occupancy is around 93 percent, the article notes.
According to the article, some residents started their opposition to the cooling tower in 1995, the community opened. After seeing the site plans, the requested that the tower be moved farther from their homes. That wasn't done, but an extra $22,500 was spent on extra mufflers. Still, according to Vonderlehr, "the first day it was on, my husband and I were like, 'What is that noise?' It was a low-level, loud roar."
Since the retirement community opened, letters and exchanges have followed. Residents said representatives from the community have worked with them to solve other complaints. According to Executive Director Christopher Henderson, the retirement community has spend $2,700 for a stand of Norway spruce that serves as a sound and sight buffer to the cooling tower; $4,000 to reduce noise from the kitchen exhaust; and $3,000 to move some noisy refrigeration units. An acoustical engineering study conducted on the cooling tower found that the noise could be reduced by refitting its fan motors, but Henderson said the community can't afford the $50,000 cost right now. He said, "We've spent a substantial amount of time and money in doing what we can. We understand that four or five years ago, this was a 90-acre, pristine farm. We're never going to be able to compete with that rolling hills and pasture." Henderson added that even though residents at The Hermitage pay entrance fees of between $84,000 and $300,000, and between $1,400 and $4,000 per month, the community is not rolling in dough. The project was expensive to build, and it's expensive to operate, Henderson said. He added, "We are a brand-new retirement community, we're in the process of filling up, we have a very, very tight budget. If I had $50,000 to put into this, you and I would not be talking right now." The community eventually hopes to find enough money to make the modifications to the cooling tower, he said.
The Methodist retirement home, The Hermitage, eventually did attenuate the noise.
They did the right thing.