Thunderous claps of metal jolt Charlotte residents from sleep. What’s going on?
Thunderous claps of metal on metal jolt uptown Charlotte residents from their slumber at night, prompting 911 calls for police to go out and stop the non-stop pounding already.
Add blow torches and a gigantic crane and Catherine Cohill can’t get a wink’s sleep in her high-rise dwelling.
“Today they woke us at 3:38 AM with metal hammering, the crane in full operation, and a full crew,” Cohill said in an email to The Charlotte Observer at 3:55 a.m. last Wednesday.
Cohill watched from her apartment high above as crews at the Legacy Union tower under construction at 600 S. Tryon St. kept her and her husband and countless neighbors awake.
“They started on the lower section on Church Street at around 3 a.m.,” Cohill said. “We can’t get back to sleep and not sure if the police are any help.”
The noise has kept her and neighbors up several other nights as well since January, she said.
What bewilders Cohill and other sleep-deprived residents: Why the city granted an exception to the city noise ordinance that prohibits such overnight keep-me-awake construction.
About 13,000 people live in uptown, census data shows.
The noise stopped when CMPD officers responded to 911 callers on previous occasions this year, Cohill said, but CMPD recently told residents the contractor obtained a permit allowing work until 3 a.m., she said.
On Feb. 9, the noise lasted from late the night before until 4 a.m., Cohill said. That’s when she first notified the Observer to the noise and urged her tower management to start a petition..
“Good neighbors and investors treat their neighbors as they would like to be treated, not by making noise all night long,” she said in an email to her tower management. “It’s impossible to function at work without sleep and it defies common decency to inflict this on others.”
Charlotte developer Lincoln Harris is partnering with Goldman Sachs Asset Management on the 24-story tower in the heart of uptown, the Observer previously reported. The site is the former longtime location of The Charlotte Observer.
The building will include 415,000 square feet of mostly office space and about 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, along with room for conferences, co-working spaces and a gym, according to a Lincoln Harris news release. All spaces will offer outdoor terraces.
Construction should end by late 2024, according to Lincoln Harris.
Contractor got an exemption, CMPD says
CMPD officers contacted the construction company after recent complaints and were shown a permit from the city, CMPD spokesman Mike Allinger told the Observer. The permit had an exception allowing the company to operate overnight, he said.
“At this time, no citations have been issued,” Allinger said.
Noise complaints are handled case-by-case, he said.
“Typically construction noise is not permitted during overnight hours unless the builders have an exception through the city,” Allinger said. “If the noise doesn’t constitute an emergency then 311 would be the correct line to call.”
The city communications office didn’t reply to a request for comment from the Observer regarding why the city allowed the overnight noise exception at the Legacy Union site and for how long.
The Observer filed a recent public records request with the city for a list construction projects that have received exemptions from the overnight noise ban since 2021. The city hadn’t replied as of Tuesday.
Noise ordinance exemptions
Charlotte’s noise ordinance bans the operation of loud construction machinery between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The ordinance exempts construction by city crews or city contractors deemed “necessary to maintain public safety or prevent disruption to transportation or public utilities,” according to the city of Charlotte website.
“Chronic producers of construction noise may be required to develop a noise mitigation plan,” according to the city website.
On Friday, Lincoln Harris spokesman Richie Faulkenberry said the developer is reviewing its construction process with its contractor on the project, Gilbane/Shelco.
“The construction team is working with the city on a move forward plan that falls within Uptown guidelines,” Faulkenberry said in an email.
Faulkenberry didn’t reply when the Observer asked if Lincoln Harris plans to stop the overnight construction at 601 S. Tryon St. or require its subcontractor to do so.
Meanwhile, Cohill said she and her neighbors suffer sleep deprivation.
What emergency, she asks, requires keeping everyone awake.
This story was originally published February 21, 2023 at 9:52 AM.