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Province asked to intervene in construction noise dispute near Devonshire school
Parents have taken sound readings in the kindergarten playground at the school that range from 95 to 120 decibels from the heavy machinery at the construction site.
Jacquie Miller, Ottawa Citizen
Published Dec 14, 2022 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read
Parents at Devonshire Community Elementary School are renewing their fight to tone down the noise at a construction project across the street after ear-splitting blasts erupted again this week.
They have the support of Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden, who wrote Wednesday to the provincial ministers of Education, Labour and Housing, asking them to intervene with builder Claridge Homes.
Claridge began construction last week on an apartment tower near the school at the corner of Breezehill Avenue North and Somerset Avenue West.
Parents have taken sound readings in the kindergarten playground at the school that range from 95 to 120 decibels from the heavy machinery at the construction site. A reading of 100 decibels is about as loud as a chainsaw, while 120 decibels is like a rock concert.
At times students and teachers have trouble hearing themselves talk even inside the school, and recess last week was cut short due to the noise, parents have said.
Harden did his own sound reading Tuesday at the school when the noise was “loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage if exposed for extended periods of time,” he said in a letter to Education Minister Stephen Lecce, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton and Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark.
Claridge failed to uphold agreements made last winter with the school and parent council to mitigate the noise with sound barriers and schedules that concentrated the loudest construction at times when children were not outside, Harden said in the letter.
“There are serious risks for the students and staff of Devonshire Public School,” said the letter.
“We ask you to contact Claridge Homes, and help ensure this situation improves.”
In an interview, Harden said he is not asking for construction to stop, as more housing is urgently needed.
“This is no NIMBY. We’re not saying don’t build.
“I don’t dispute the need for more housing downtown, absolutely not. But for the safety of the students and staff at Devonshire, for the neighbours in the community, for the construction workers on the site, we certainly need Claridge to be taking health and safety a lot more seriously.”
He’s worked with other developers on construction noise complaints, said Harden. “Usually they are responsive. They want to be good neighbours. They want to sell the units. This is an unfortunate case.”
Edgy Sedki, co-chair of the Devonshire school council, said the school principal, trustee Suzanne Nash and city councillor Jeff Leiper have all been supportive, but parents want action.
“It’s been crickets. It’s very frustrating.”
Leiper, in an email, said he had no public comment at this time “other than to say this is a very active discussion in my office.”
City bylaws don’t limit the volume of noise caused by construction, but specify the hours work can be conducted: not before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m. on weekdays, or before 9 a.m. or after 10 p.m. on Sunday and holidays.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board sent an inspector on Monday to the school, but it was quiet that day, said trustee Suzanne Nash.
“That’s the problem, (the noise) is sporadic.”
Nash is also critical of Claridge, saying there has been a lack of communication about the project. “It can’t go on this way.”
A school board statement to parents last week said Claridge had agreed to shut down noisy operations for an hour each day from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
The school’s recess breaks are from 10:45 a.m. to 11:10 a.m. and from 1:25 p.m. to 2 p.m., according to the Devonshire website.
There may be further developments, however. Nash says a person from a public-relations firm representing Claridge was having discussions with the school principal on Wednesday afternoon.
Last week Neil Malhotra, the chief financial officer for Claridge, said the company was not “providing any comments on the matter at this time.”
This newspaper sought further comment from Malhotra on Wednesday afternoon, but had not yet received a response by deadline.
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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ion-noise-dispute-near-devonshire-school
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