Advice on after-hours construction noise
We live in Downtown LA adjacent to a restaurant that's undergoing renovations. For the last two weeks (tonight being the beginning of the third week), there has been a worker on the property using a power saw until as late as midnight. To add insult to injury, he uses the power saw to cut metal rods that he's welding together to make some kind of frame for a rooftop terrace. There are few sounds worse than the sound of metal cutting metal. And bright flashes of light come through our windows from the welding.
There is a noise ordinance in place that prohibits construction noise between the hours of 9pm and 7am. On the first night, we went down and asked the worker to stop. He said he would, and then he continued to work until midnight. So every night after that, we've called the police shortly after 9pm to report the noise disturbance. The problem is that it usually takes the police several hours to arrive--typically sometime between 11pm and midnight. Sometimes we have to call twice before they arrive. When they do arrive, they make the worker leave, but by that time, he has already gotten in the several hours of work he was hoping for. He was probably planning to leave around midnight anyway.
So, we're in a cycle that's working to his advantage, and is driving us crazy. Every night we call the police, and every night, the police make him leave. But, since he doesn't get a ticket, and since he does get several hours of work in before he has to leave, he just comes back the next night for more work.
This noise is making us miserable. We have to wake up around 5am for work, so the noise is preventing us from sleeping. We work hard during the day, and come home to the sound of a power saw running until after 11pm, at which point we're lucky to get 5 hours of sleep.
If the police could arrive shortly after we call, that would help. But we realize they are busy, and a noise disturbance isn't the most pressing thing on their agenda. (Honestly, I can't understand why it takes two hours when our neighborhood seems to be crawling with officers, but I suppose they have other things going on.) And if the police would issue a ticket, that might help as well. But, neither of these things is in our control.
So, if you have any advice about other steps we could take, we would really appreciate your input. We've already spoken with our landlord about it, and he said he would talk to the owner of the restaurant, but that hasn't led to a resolution. We just feel that this is totally outrageous, but we're not sure where to turn.
Thanks for your advice.
Last edited by cmcgill; 04-09-2012 at 09:41 PM..
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