West Windsor officials are trying to alleviate noise complaints by residents in the LongMeadow and Sherbrooke developments who say two businesses are keeping them awake at night.
During the township’s Board of Health meeting on May 18, Council President Charles Morgan brought up the two issues to his fellow council members (the council also serves as the Board of Health). The first, he said, was coming from newspaper distribution business, Publisher’s Circulation Fulfillment Company, operating off Alexander Road.
The noise coming from that business occurs at early hours in the morning, sometimes around 2:30 a.m., when the beeping sounds associated with delivery trucks that are backing up and voices and other noise can be heard.
Health officer Robert Hary said one resident has complained about this problem and that the resident contacted both the police department and health officials to seek resolution. The company received at least one summons for violation of a township ordinance dealing with quality of life, and they were taken to court and had to pay the fine.
He said he spoke to the owner of the building, who explained that because of the commercial area in which the business is located, the tenants of the building did not realize they were disturbing residents.
However, Hary said, “It’s the way they do their business. It’s difficult to regulate it.” He said the owner has put township health officials in touch with the tenants. The tenants have explained that their lease is up in 2010. They also said that if they continue to receive summonses, they may have to break their lease and leave the area earlier.
With regard to the second issue, in Sherbrooke, Morgan said he visited the neighborhood in the area of the noise in the middle of the night and heard the humming sound that was bothering the neighbors.
Hary explained that the humming is coming from the garage of a resident on Sherbrooke Drive who runs a computer service out of his home. The large server is causing the humming. Township officials have found that the resident is not violating zoning laws, and that he is able to run the business from his home.
In addition, “we were not able to establish it was a nuisance,” Hary said. Hary said township officials are hoping to meet with the homeowner to work something out, perhaps including soundproofing the garage where he keeps the server, or asking him to keep his garage door closed.
