Summer sounds: music to the ears or a headache?

Not everyone is embracing the sounds that come along with the warmer months.

Thestar.com
Aug. 2, 2015
By Alison Shouldice

For many cold-averse Torontonians, the summer is a season worth celebrating. But for others, it can be a noisy headache, with construction projects, loud street festivals and other outdoor activities being squeezed into the short summer months.

Noise remains a significant problem for many residents, according to the City of Toronto.

“The summer is particularly bad,” says Bathurst Quay resident Karen Tzventarny, who can hear events on Lakeshore Blvd. from her nearby home. “The day after Labor Day, the noise seems to cut in half.”

Until August 6, the city is soliciting public feedback on noise through an online survey. The results will be used to inform its ongoing Noise Bylaw Review.

Although the survey is still available, the city has released preliminary data. So what is Toronto’s biggest noise gripe? Amplified sound from both commercial and residential areas followed by construction, delivery and motorcycle noise.

Noise has driven at least one couple out of Toronto. Milt Flynn and his wife lived in their downtown CityPlace townhouse for only 10 months before they fled. They were regularly woken up by honking taxis, loud passersby and revelers from the pub next door.

“I was used to urban living, but the noise, to us, was absolutely intolerable,” Flynn said. Things changed once they moved out to Oakville, west of Toronto. “Compared to downtown, it’s is like living in a funeral home,” he said.

For construction sites, there are specific times when noise can legally happen: between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturdays.

But this rule isn’t always followed, according to Rick Whitten-Stovall of the Bay-Cloverhill Community Association. His neighborhood, around the intersection of Bay and Wellesley Sts., has been home to several loud construction sites over the past few years.

“The biggest problem is the contractors will be pouring concrete,” he said. “The process involves a lot of trucks coming in and out.” In one instance, a contractor began pouring concrete in the evening hours, which meant the site was active past midnight.

“It’s kind of a paradox,” he said, since most of the association’s members live in high-rise buildings. “The great thing that makes us want to live here is what causes the problem.” Most contractors, he added, obey the rules: the outliers are the main issue.

Other noises that garner complaints, according to the city’s survey, are sounds like sirens, TTC vehicles and animal noise.

Waterfront resident Ryan Hogan’s complaint is neighborhood-specific: screeching collisions. The recently-opened Queens Quay Blvd. has recently seen many accidents as drivers adapt to the street’s new layout.

“I hear it at least once a week,” he said. Otherwise, he’s had no problems with sound.

“If you live in the city, you have to be accustomed to noise.”