Sticky complaince issue needing input from experts

[RevDarkwing]

I am a trustee for a township in a great lakes state. There is an issue currently under review and discussion and I need some knowledgable input. Here are the facts:
1. 2019 a factory whose property already abuts a residential neighborhood (developed decades after the factory was first built) gets a building permit to expand on it's property parallel to the residential property line on land already owned by the factory.
2. The site plan calls for a visual/sound barrier including deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The contractor planted the deciduous trees but not the evergreen trees.
3. The factory also added a water cooling tower for a machine they added. This was not a part of the building permit because it's not part of the building.. it's a machine. the cooling tower generates 80 Db of noise but when neighbors in the residental houses complained they installed a fence like wooden barrier that helps bu reducing current Db at the property line to 68.
4. The township building inspector signed off on the building permit in error thinking some evergreen shrubs were evergreen trees.
5. For 7 years the home owners have been complaining about the noise but the previous council did nothing meaningful about it. The new council has looked into it and discovered this building permit/site plan error which makes the factory non-compliant in my opinion anyway, and we are trying to gather information so we know our position vis-a-vis the factory owner's position vis-a-vis the various adjacent residential home owners' position as it relates to existing obligations and authorities and liability. any and all input would be appreciated.
Happy to provide more info is asked.

 

[JPohling]

get an attorney involed

 

[RevDarkwing]

get an attorney involed

Absolutely.. already there.. but time with attorneys is expensive and I find the more I know about the subject... and especially the "I don't know what I don't know" part.. the more concise the question and the better the answer. Asking open ended questions of an attorney instead of a precise one can cost ya. I know from experience.

 

[e hilton]

Schedule a lunch meeting with the factory managers, bring documents with facts, make them aware of all the details, and ask them to create a plan to correct everything. With a reasonable due date. I bet the cooling tower has electrical service, and the foundation should have been engineered, so a permit was appropriate. If they agree, keep it quiet. If they push back, point out the power of social media, followed by the power of the city attorney.

 

[mtlogcabin]

they installed a fence like wooden barrier that helps bu reducing current Db at the property line to 68.

A sound wall might be a better product than a wood fence. The sound wall should extend above the equipment making the noise.
There are many different manufactures to look at. Perhaps your DOT could give you advise since they deal with this issue for roads.
This one was interesting

https://climatewall.com/en-us/products/climatewall-standard/

68DB is not a lot and I would bet during the winter months it is not noticed inside a home.

Do you even have a noise ordinance in your town that you can refer to, if not you are probably wasting money on an attorney.

Fences make good neighbors or in your case sound walls will make good neighbors.

 

[Yikes]

Welcome! This is a building code forum, and it mostly deals with life safety / structural issues. So the responses and advice you are seeing above do not find their answer in the Building Code.

It tends to be more of a land use / environmental law / public nuisance / welfare issue. Check to see if the local municipal code or zoning code addresses this. In California our CEQA process would also address it.

 

[ICE]

Seven years of complaining didn’t result in any action so the factory management is not likely to be helpful on their own. The missing evergreen trees would make a difference in the noise and seven years of growth didn’t happen. The cooling tower requires a permit. The planning dept. can force a sound wall. The planning dept. could also cause the cooling tower to be relocated.

 

[TheCommish]

While this issue has some building code and building official enforcement the underlying issue is what your local zoning and the site plan approved by the planning board or whatever board you have that deals with the proper land use issues and site development on the front end of the proces, and any conditions set forth in that decision. Your city government should consult with a good land use attorney for the state that this issue is located in.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

First, the water tower is a "structure," so it is under the purview of the building code (and the building official). Since it is for mechanical cooling, it is also under the purview of the mechanical code and the plumbing code.

The building code, the mechanical code, and the plumbing code don't regulate noise generated on one property and how it may affect adjacent properties. That's a zoning issue. The fact that the factory expansion was approved on the basis of planting certain types of trees is also primarily a zoning issue. However, if the agreed-upon trees were shown on the site plans/civil drawings approved for construction, then the building official also had a duty to ensure they were planted before signing off on the completed construction (and the zoning enforcement officer should not have signed off, either.)

This is a job for your township's corporation counsel.