Noise disturbance from an early-morning concrete pour at the Oceana PARC development on Johnston Road in uptown White Rock did lead to resident complaints – contrary to previously reported comments from the city.
Gabriela Klacansky, a resident of the nearby Miramar Village development, disputes the city’s version of events.
She said Monday that the noise from the work, on April 7, started much earlier than city communications manager Farnaz Farrokhi had told Peace Arch News in an article published on April 20.
Though she and others have complained to the city, they have yet to receive a response, Klacansky said.
“It’s a complete disregard of people who live here and pay taxes,” she said. “Some of my neighbours even called White Rock RCMP at the time because they were so disturbed.
“Anyone I talked to didn’t get a good night’s sleep that night… I was awoken at 4 a.m. My dog stood up and started barking and I was looking to see what it was. Some of the other residents I’ve spoken with say it started even earlier.”
In an April 13 email in response to PAN questions about the work – on what is to be a 23-storey retirement residence – Farrokhi wrote “the actual concrete pour occurred between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday.” She noted the schedule for the work from 3:30-6 a.m. called for traffic control and set-up.
But Klacansky said she had a clear view when she was awoken, and was in no doubt that the sound was coming from pumper trucks pouring concrete at the site, between the 1500-blocks of Johnston Road and George Street.
“I could see the construction site and it was the (concrete) being pumped – absolutely,” she said. “It was ear-piercing – unbelievable.”
She said a friend who lives several blocks away also experienced intense noise.
In her email, Farrokhi had said she had “checked with Planning and they are not aware of any complaints from the public.”
Klacansky said complaint emails sent to the city by herself and her neighbours had been received, judging by automatic receipt notifications, but “I still haven’t received an email back, or a phone call from them.”
Noise-extension forms filled out by hand and sent by the city to neighbouring residents and businesses were “inadequate” notification, Klacansky said.
“They didn’t need to notify the businesses – they’re not open at 4 a.m.,” she said. “It’s the residents who are suffering.”
Farrokhi responded to further PAN questions after the print deadline Thursday, saying that she was not aware “of any further complaints.”
“We ask that residents contact the City’s Bylaw Enforcement division at 604-541-2146 or via email at bylaw@whiterockcity.ca if they have any concerns,” she said.
“This way, the City can respond and investigate.”
She had previously told PAN that the pour was for the ‘ground slab’ of the building and that due to the slab’s area and structural requirements, it had to be poured in one continuous job.
Klacansky, who manages an orthopedic surgeons clinic, said she still doesn’t know why that justified such an early start.
“I work 60 hours, at minimum, a week, and I think I have some right to undisturbed rest,” she said. “I don’t know why they had to do it at 4 a.m. on the weekend. I don’t know what the rationale for that is.”’
Neighbouring resident Pat Douglas told PAN he shares Klacansky’s concern about “the shocking noise of cement trucks working so early on a weekend morning.”
“The residents of Miramar and surrounding towers are exposed to the disruption of the new buildings being under construction during each day of the week,” he said in an email.
“This disruption is of course unavoidable, but surely there should be a bit of consideration given to the need for peace and quiet in the early hours of each day, especially… the weekend.”