Gibson gives some ground in dispute with neighbours
Posted September
19, 2012
Residents in the Kerr Blvd and Cunningham Dr area of Alliston have won
a partial victory in their near three year battle over truck-traffic
generated noises coming from the nearby PGW property on Church Street
South owned by Brian Gibson after he agreed to build the planned higher
sound barrier wall in the same location as the current one slated to be
replaced.
The Ministry of Environment has ordered Mr. Gibson to come up with a
solution to reduce noise impacts from the shuttling truck traffic that
service PGW's auto glass operation; a situation neighbours say dates
back to 2009 when the Town approved a 2,725 m2
expansion to the existing warehouse facility, then in March 2010,
issued the occupancy permit.
Mr. Gibson erected a 2.3 metre fence which hasn't prevented noise from
exceeding MOE guidelines.The consultant he hired to determine a
solution is recommending a 4.2 metre high acoustic fence. And where
originally the plan presented last week for municipal approval was to
locate it along the property line, it will instead be rebuilt in place.
He has not, however, agreed to another of the residents' request that
he donate trees to be planted on their side of the property line to
help block the sight of a 14 ft high wall and compensate for the
removal of mature trees to accommodate its construction. Below are the
changes approved Monday night:
The 4.2m high acoustic fence will be installed in the same
location as the existing cedar acoustic fence;
The existing 16 willow trees impacted by the new acoustical
fence will be removed, including their stumps;
16 coniferous trees (Siberian Spruce) will be planted on
the PGW site, on the west side of the acoustical fence, Due to the area
being reduced to 3m wide and the existing roots and stumps from the
removed willows, 2m high trees with corresponding smaller root balls
are proposed to be planted. Additionally, should it not be possible to
plant all 16 trees in this location due to the spatial limits, the
balance of the trees will be planted elsewhere on the PGW site at an
acceptable location;
A clause is to be added to the Site Plan Agreement to state
that the Town will not require the maintenance of the trees planted on
the west side of the acoustical fence as there will be no direct access
to them. Accordingly, the trees will be allowed to grow in a
naturalized condition; and
Staff will advise Council in our memorandum that you expect
the preparation for the acoustic installation to now take 10 days
instead of the original five days.
"(I)t has been demonstrated in the Acoustic Assessment Report (AAR) and
Noise Abatement Plan (NAAP) prepared by AECOM, dated May 22, 2012 and
July 25, 2012, respectively, that the Facility sound levels will be in
compliance with MOE Publication NPC-205 guidelines with the use of the
current and proposed noise barrier control measure," according to Brad
Allen of the MOE. "The noise model has been based on two trucks per
hour during the evening and night with the current barrier and up to
four trucks per hour during the evening and night with the proposed
noise barrier....As part of the updating of PGW's Environmental
Compliance Approval the Ministry will be requiring a third party noise
acoustical consultant conduct infield testing to verify the modeled AAR
levels."
