Open letter to Richmond city council,
I humbly ask you take a serious look at adjusting the construction noise bylaw and put our children, families and communities before residential development.
This Tuesday morning at 7:15 a.m. there were two distinct sounds in my suburb. One was the gentle cries of bald eagles whose long-time home is in a magnificent tree three houses down. The other was four workers hammering away at a construction site of yet another mega home. Is it really necessary for construction noise to start at 7 a.m.?
There is a lot of scientifically supported literature stating children need more sleep, particularly adolescents.
Why would the bylaws of our city allow for our future to be woken up earlier than necessary by hammering, heavy machinery and power tools?
On the other side of the day, construction noise is allowed until 8 p.m. The same noises have surely disrupted many family dinners. Is nothing sacred anymore?
It seems residential development is given a higher priority than the children and families in our neighbourhoods. On my street alone, five mega homes are in progress and seven others were completed in the past 18 months. That is a lot of construction noise.
Speaking of children and families, it would seem that they are not the ones moving into these new mega homes as our great schools have seen a steady overall decline in enrollment despite having more living spaces than ever in Richmond. So, is all the noise worth it?
Bernard Soong
Richmond
