The License Commission needs to better protect residents from the effects of construction noise
The License Commission recently granted the CambridgeSide developers a noise variance for two straight weekends (beginning at 7 p.m. Fridays and “working continuously” until at 5 a.m. Mondays), which starts this week. There is no evidence that the commission adequately considered the adverse impacts on the health, safety and welfare of affected people as it is required to under Chapter 8.16 of city law.
The CambridgeSide redevelopment – set to take up to 10 years – has revved up in full force. Cambridge’s noise regulations allow construction Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. This noise is not trivial. This is the construction noise from the morning of Oct. 25 at 6:18 a.m.:
Courtesy of the License Commission, residents are now in store for 17 straight days of construction, and the developer has carte blanche to generate noise continuously on weekends. Days of sabbath; 5 a.m. Saturday; 11:30 p.m. Sunday – literally any time.
How were the effects on people considered? What medical doctor did the License Commission consult with to conclude that granting 58 straight hours of construction noise on weekends – a traditional time of rest and rejuvenation – is safe for the well-being of local residents? My public records request, which appears to list every department involved with approving this variance, does not show that the Cambridge Public Health Department was consulted. This academic research concludes that, “Strong noise annoyance was associated with a two-fold higher prevalence of depression and anxiety in the general population.”
Did the commission consider how the lack of sleep and rest will affect children when they go to school on Mondays? Ditto for those of us who have regular jobs; most of us have to show up rested on Monday mornings. Is this in line with the City of Cambridge’s “Mission Vision Values” of allowing “people to live their best lives?”
The stated reason for the noise variance request is the “safety of customers and pedestrians.” The term “public safety” should not be a ticket to “build whenever you want.” Even if it costs a little more, the welfare of Cambridge residents should take precedence over profit.
As a neighbor of the redevelopment, neither I nor many others close by were given a courtesy notification to express our opinions on this matter. Only abutters are required to be notified of noise variance petitions – as if they are the only ones who will bear the brunt of a noise variance decision. The commission should respect the needs and lives of more than just contiguous abutters.
The developer requested a noise variance for 10 weekends and the commission granted two (though 24 more hours each weekend). “At least they didn’t allow 10 weekends” shouldn’t be viewed as a just outcome. The deciding factor should be whether 17 straight construction days coupled with two weekends of 58 hours of continuous noise is safe for the well-being of residents. And if a noise variance is necessary, for every additional hour granted, at least 1.5 hours should be trimmed from regular working hours in a manner that increases the well-being of neighbors (for example, a weekday start time of 9 a.m. instead of 7 a.m.).
The burden of proof for granting a noise variance should be conclusive evidence that public safety cannot be maintained any other way. The welfare of residents should be heavily weighted in consultation with medical professionals, and everyone who will be negatively affected should have an equal opportunity to voice their opinions.
Rafi Mohammed, Rogers Street
Rafi Mohammed is an economist who has lived in East Cambridge for more than 20 years.
Excellent piece, Dr. Mohammed. You raise all our concerns very eloquently. I would also like to acknowledge that we are still in COVID times and 58 hours of constant weekend noise in addition to the already stressful times we live in will have increased impact on the mental health of local residents. It is well known that not having adequate rest during recuperative weekends has negative impacts on people. I hope your words resonate with the powers that be.
I wrote a paper the concept of noise that was the subject of a book and currently an ongoing symposium at the University of London. My thesis was and is that noise -external noise- has a harmful effect on the brain and psyche. It leads to depression, anxiety, confusion and a study out of Denmark this year showed that external noise led to early dementia in people living in a noisy place. Please respect our peace and only create the noise on weekdays when neighbors can escape.
rshader
I am a non-contiguous abutter residing one block south of NED’s new construction/destruction at CambridgeSide. I was opposed to their being given a waiver for the height of this project, but their money and influence prevailed. Now we also have the indignity of excessive noise, again without convincing justification. I am dismayed that the alleged “needs” of developers are valued over the wishes and needs of people who live in the area.
Thank you so much Dr. Mohammed for posting this important commentary along with the accompanying video that makes your point so clearly. You speak for many people I have heard from who live in this area – and in some ways also for others living elsewhere in the city. That developer perceived “needs” now trump the well-being of our residents is deeply disturbing. With articles like this perhaps we can move the needle a bit in the other direction.
It is shameful that the License Commission does not value the mental health of the citizens that it is in charge of protecting. Please know that protecting mental health is as important as ensuring physical safety.
Great article, Rafi. I have lived at Thomas Graves Landing for over 20 years and have been fighting with the commission for years regarding Special Noise Variance (SNV). It seems that every single developer who requests a SNV gets it, without any questions being asked nor any input being taken by the residents. Last year a SNV was given to GLX Construction to allow them to work 7:00am-10:00pm on Saturday and Sunday (instead of 9:00am-6:00pm) so that they could finish the project faster. Well, instead of using the extra hours to complete the project faster, workers come in at 6:30am on Saturdays and leave by 12:00pm. So, they basically take our weekend sleep away without any desire to complete the project faster. Makes you wonder why the law even exists since it is habitually disregarded. When I inquired with the Licensing Commission and GLX, I was told that the unions were making sure that the workers could get home early on Saturday to enjoy the weekend! Whose best interest do you think the City of Cambridge and the developers have in mind? Given that most of the Cambridge City Councellors take money from the big developers, we can’t be surprised. Hopefully the Cambridge residents will wake up one day and vote out of office the ones who are “bought” by the developers. We know who they are, it is public information. Meanwhile, anyone who wants to protest against this abuse should email [email protected].
I don’t understand why a waiver would be granted in this circumstance. People live here! It seems rather cruel to me to expect residents to live with this intolerable noise.
Today’s scare – per Cambridge Fire Dept. Twitter feed:
“A full box alarm assignment is operating at a hi-pressure gas main break on Land Blvd area of Sonesta and Cambridgeside. Companies have charged hose lines in place, are taking air samplings, & evacuating areas as needed.
Dr. Mohammed leaves out one very important aspect of the License Commission “hearing” on this latest noise variance. Only two of the commissioners were present, the chair and the brand new police commissioner, who was attending her very first meeting. The fire chief, who is far too often the most cognizant of how noise affects the humans who unaccountably dare to live nearby, was not there.
My email 10/17 email to License Commission before 10/19 hearing:
Subject: License Commission: App. #143692, 100 Cambridgeside Pl., extended noise hours, 10/19/21
Dear Ms. Ferrer, Chairperson, and License Commissioners:
I don’t reside in East Cambridge. I just sympathize with its noise-beleaguered residents. They would be further negatively impacted if you were to permit this project’s construction-noise for 34-hour-straight weekend shifts, from Fridays at 7 p.m. to Sundays at 5 a.m. for 6 months, starting Oct. 29.
In addition to cranes, aerial lifts, trucks and support vehicles, the applicant’s work crew will operate “lull lifts”* and “backup alarms,” hardly white-noise.
This application is an aggressive affront. I hope the Commission denies it.
Sincerely,
Carol O’Hare
Cambridgeport
*These will hardly lull residents to sleep.
[Photo of boom lift beside a building omitted here.]