Blog Archives

Construction in Nu'uanu - Is Moving Only Option?

9/5/2018

Comment:
I've been on here before. I just want to say, I am not sure how much longer I can stand living here. The thoughts of moving is getting very close, but it will be hard because Hawaii employers do not give enough pay. Besides the daily leaf blower for the past 5 years of moving to Nuuanu, I have been in a constant panic attack and laden anxiety. I don' t know how you people feel about hearing hammering in the distance EVERY DAY AT 7 AM till 3 PM. I am a stay at home wife who is trying to conceive. But with the constant noise going around me, my husband and I aren't blessed with a little one yet. I do wear "noise canceling" head phones, but they do not block out hammering, saws, and leaf blowers because the distance is soooo close to our house. The worse is the hammering. 2 or 3 hits every 10 seconds. Its like Chinese water torture for me. I feel so sad that Nuuanu is becoming into another Kailua or Kapolei with the reconstructing of houses for multiple families. Must be nice to have so much money to buy a house and land for 1.3 million dollars. This isn't paradise anymore.

Quieter O'ahu Response:
We understand your position completely. And it is not just Nu'uanu, but everywhere across O'ahu. We are seeing unprecedented commercial and residential growth and the accompanying noise is the price communities are forced to pay. Here is a link to the current O'ahu Noise Reference Manual. Perhaps there is a section on commercial activities or industry that will spark some ideas about options, but our laws, generally, favor developers on all fronts. We can only hope for you that the constructions is completed soon and you are restored some level of quiet.

http://health.hawaii.gov/irhb/files/2017/08/noiserefoahu.pdf

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Noisy Neighbors In Makiki

9/5/2018

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Comment:
I live in a two story apartment building in Makiki, just above Lunalilo and Piikoi. You would think that my biggest noise complaint would be the freeway and the cars in the neighborhood headed to the freeway, but it isn't.

My biggest noise complaint is my neighbors. I have two neighbors in my building who test the boundaries of their eardrums daily with music, tv and speaking. I also have neighbors in the building behind me who think that the 10pm cutoff is a joke, and will happily play their tv very late into the night, no matter what day.

Most of the information provided on the website is very good, but I haven't seen much in how to deal with people being noisy in their own homes. Do you have any tips that could help my situation?

Quieter O'ahu Response:
We hear of noise neighbors a lot. Really, a LOT.

Here is a link to the current O'ahu Noise Reference Manual. http://health.hawaii.gov/irhb/files/2017/08/noiserefoahu.pdf  At page 12 there is a paragraph discussing options for noisy neighbors. The most common option we hear of is to call HPD at 911 and file a noisy neighbor report. You can tell the operator that you do not want your name or address mentioned to the noisy neighbor by the responding officer. The operator will dispatch a patrol to investigate and, if found to be "out-of-bounds" noise, they will usually issue a warning. If they are called multiple times to the same address and the noise hasn't been quieted they may issue a citation. Unless you are on very good terms with your neighbor, we always recommend that you do not confront them directly, but let HPD do that instead.

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Noisy MOPEDS

9/5/2018

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Comment:
It has been 2 years that the moped owners who use the 3rd house after [HBA] come out from 2pm to midnight on [frequently] to roar down the street.

For hours these riders go back and forth seemingly racing as well as testing their mufflers to make them even louder.

On most evenings it stops at 9pm or 10pm but recently they stopped after midnight, after reviving their moped engines louder and going faster.

Can HPD do anything about this?
several months ago I noticed an unmarked HPD car parked nearby. This seemed to have deterred the riders from roaring along the street.

It has only gotten worse this month.

Quieter O'ahu Respone:
You certainly have the option of contacting HPD. You can even ask that your name or address not be mentioned with confronting the offenders. There are numerous ordnances and statutes governing loud mopeds and you can review many of them on our website at this link. https://www.quieteroahu.com/hawaii-noise-laws.html

Should you choose to contact HPD it would be beneficial, if possible and only if it can be done without confronting the offenders, to have license numbers should they have departed the area before HPD arrives. Otherwise, HPD will likely, at minimum, issue warnings and if they are called again for the same behavior they may issue citations if they determine that a moped-related ordnance of statute has been violated.

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Late Night - Early Morning Noisy Commercial Garbage Collection

9/5/2018

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Comment:
Have tried to be tolerant but the issue keeps getting worse. Last night it started at 3:45 in the morning with the emptying of dumpsters across the street at, behind and in the surrounding area of The Ritz Carlton. The noise of the back up vehicles is annoying in itself but these dumpster s apparently have a lot of glass in them from the nightclubs in the vicinity and then the shutting of the metal lids kept a number of us up all night. It seemed non stop till well past 6:00 in the morning. I don’t feel I have to close my doors and windows if I choose not to and if so it only dulls the already loud noise. With the Ritz Carlton building across the street the street noise in EVERY sense has increased as noise is bouncing off of the buildings. I hear conversations on the street like they are in my living/bedroom on the top floor of my building. Can you not station yourself there at the early hours of the morning to hear this yourself ? This was on a Friday night but it is not exclusive to that night.

Quieter O'ahu Response:
We hear this complaint frequently. VERY frequently. Waikiki as you have probably noticed is undergoing a huge surge in development. The Ritz Carton was a part of that development, but expect to see more, and more accompanying noise. It sounds that your complaint probably has two components, first - the loud noise generally associated with refuse collection: vehicle noise, metal-on-metal noise, and noise of emptying and replacing containers; second - the backup warning noise emitted from commercial vehicles. Either of these is distressing. When combined they are often intolerable.

Here's the link to the current O'ahu Noise Reference Manual. http://health.hawaii.gov/irhb/files/2017/08/noiserefoahu.pdf There are references to Garbage Truck, if they are city and county vehicles, and for backup warning signals. For city and county trucks there is a number to call to register a complain, but from past experience we haven't heard of much success. For warning signals the city and county have laws mandating that commercial vehicles employ these warnings, and while we have tried to gain traction in modifying this law so that it is used only during daylight hours there has so far been no success. However, we have heard from subscribers that they have had modest success in contacting the commercial garbage collection service(s) and complaining about noise at specific pickup locations. Sometimes these companies will direct their drivers to be sensitive to community complaints and "sometimes" noise is mitigated. Too, you might consider contacting the Ritz Carlton with your complaint. It is often in their interest to caution their contractors than face organized community pushback and bad press. Absent that, things will remain unchanged until we elect legislators who understand the impact of noise on the community, and enact sensible ordinance and statutes to restore some degree of quiet.

Wish we could have provided a better response, but this is a long-standing problem of commerce clashing with community and our lawmakers seems to favor commerce.

Quieter O'ahu

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In the space for "Name" on BLOG Comments you may use your name, initials, or just your location in Hawaii (e.g., Kaneohe).

Author

The author is just another Hawai'i resident who is tired of seeing the proliferation of noise on our beautiful O'ahu going unchecked.