To the editor:
It’s time for Marblehead to confront the issue of noise pollution. It doesn’t matter how pretty a town is if there is no meaningful guarantee of peace and quiet.
This evening, after spending a fair part of the day listening to backup beepers in my neighborhood, I thought I’d settled in to enjoy a good book. Not going to happen. A neighbor had workers on his roof replacing tiles at 6 p.m., and the sound carried for blocks. I wasn’t going to be able to read, with or without the windows open.
I went over to ask how long the work would continue. My neighbor said he really didn’t know, but thought the workers would probably finish by 7 p.m. and return the following day. I told him I felt the neighborhood — and increasingly the town — was developing a serious noise pollution problem, and that 7 p.m. seemed quite late for loud construction work that could be heard for blocks. I suggested that 5 p.m. would be a more reasonable cutoff for this kind of work.
He responded that a 5 p.m. finish was “not convenient for working-class laborers.” I pointed out that residents also have a reasonable expectation not to be inconvenienced indefinitely by excessive noise.
The conversation did not end well. But I don’t think my neighbor is a bad guy — he simply wants his roof done. And I don’t think I’m a bad neighbor — I simply want some peace and quiet. That is precisely why we need reasonable rules rather than leaving neighbors to negotiate these conflicts themselves.
To find out what those rules actually are, I called the police. I was astonished to learn this type of work can legally continue until 10 p.m.
Ten o’clock at night is extraordinarily late for loud residential construction in a densely settled community.
Marblehead’s current noise ordinance needs to be reconsidered in light of today’s near-constant barrage of ambient — and not-so-ambient — noise. The town should establish reasonable limits on loud residential construction that protect residents while still allowing people to maintain their homes. A 5 p.m. cutoff for loud construction would provide residents with something we increasingly lack: predictable periods of peace and quiet.
The town should also address another persistent source of unnecessary noise: conventional backup alarms on municipal vehicles. Newer broadband backup alarms concentrate their warning sound in the immediate hazard area instead of broadcasting a piercing tonal beep throughout surrounding neighborhoods. They are OSHA-compliant and can reportedly be retrofitted to many vehicles at relatively modest cost ($200). Marblehead should begin converting its municipal fleet to this quieter technology.
Several weeks ago, I sent a letter to the Board of Health expressing concern about noise pollution and included references to multiple studies identifying excessive environmental noise as a genuine public-health issue. Six weeks later, I have received no substantive response beyond a one-line acknowledgment that my letter had been forwarded.
This shouldn’t be an argument between people who need to get work done and people who want quiet. Marblehead does not have to choose between allowing residents to maintain their homes and allowing residents to enjoy them. Reasonable hours, quieter technology and predictable periods of peace can accommodate both.
It’s time for the town to take noise pollution seriously.
Regards,
Alicia Hart
Pond Street
