Council Seeks To Rein In Construction Noise As Complaints Mount

MELROSE, MA — The City Council is poised to pass an emergency order requiring many construction projects to provide noise monitoring reports to the city, which must then make the information available on its website.

The proposal from Councilors Shawn MacMaster and Cory Thomas comes after what they said have been hundreds of complaints about relentless construction noise at a time when people are working and even teaching their children at home.

"For the last 13 months, residents who live near constriction sites have had to cope with trying to work from home and school their children remotely while listening to jackhammering, pounding, sawing, drilling and other noise generated from tools and heavy equipment," MacMaster said. MacMaster lives in the Lower Washington Street area, which is no stranger to major development.

One of MacMaster's Ward 5 residents wrote in a letter the noise can begin before 7 a.m. and complicate their already upended daily routine.

"Our quality of life has simply ceased to be anywhere near what it was pre-COVID," the resident wrote.

The order would require developers who already have been instructed by the Planning Board to monitor acoustics to furnish that data to the city, which would when then post the information for the public. There are no fines or punitive measures in the order.

MacMaster said dozens of complaints about a nearby construction project have not garnered a single compliance check. Noise monitoring is under the purview of the health director.

"The noise ordinance relative to construction noise hasn't been enforced, at all," MacMaster said.

Thomas said the order isn't just for residents of his or MacMaster's wards, which have seen significant construction in recent months.

"This order is for all of Melrose where other development projects are scheduled in the near future in different parts of the city," Thomas said.

The order found unanimous support in the Appropriations Committee meeting last week and will be voted on in Tuesday night's City Council meeting. It would expire Dec. 1.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.