Hammering work to break up ledge had gotten abut halfway done by mid-August as shown in orange (click to enlarge).
After an outcry from neighbors complaining about teeth-rattling noise, work being done by hammering machines to break up rock ledge off Old Winter Street has been stopped while the property owners draw up a alternative plan for blasting.
The work is being done on a three-lot, 8.5-acre parcel owned by Timothy and Madeleine Plaut to install an underground water main that will service a new hydrant, since the house is too far from the road. The Plauts, who currently live in Europe, got Planning Board approval in April to clear-cut and replant several acres of undeveloped land between Old Winter Street and Silver Hill Road.
Since work began, more than a dozen neighbors have complained to the town about the excessive noise from machinery that drills holes in the ledge and then hammers away the rock to create a trench for the water main. Jen Stephens of Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design acknowledged at an August 12 Planning Board meeting that “it’s going very slow” and could take several more weeks to complete.
“There has been a systemic lack of transparency and effective communication, severed utilities (both water and internet), and unannounced street closures,” said Jay Donnelly of 35 Old Winter St., reading from a statement signed by about 16 area property owners. The all-day hammering has “disrupted indoor activities and prevented outdoor activities,” he added.
Planning Board Chair Lynn DeLisi was even more critical, citing harm to “the mental health of your neighbors. You’ve already ruined their summers. There has to be another way to do this.”
The meeting was held to consider a request from the owners to modify the approved plan to allow blasting instead of drilling and hammering. Permission and supervision from the Fire Department would also be required. Matt Shaughnessy of Maine Drilling and Blasting gave a detailed presentation on how blasting is done, the planning and precautions that are taken, and measures to minimize sound and vibration that could potentially damage nearby properties. State law specifies limits on changes in air pressure due to blasting, which sounds like “distant thunder,” he said.
Stephens and the Plauts’ attorney maintained that they were within their rights to remove the rock in whatever way they deemed best. Running the driveway and water main from Silver Hill Road was not an option since the Conservation Commission will not allow a pipe or driveway over the intervening wetlands.
“We have a lot of factors we’re trying to mitigate,” Stephens said. “We’re trying to save some trees [and] trying not to impact the topography with huge amounts of fill. I don’t think there is a miracle solution that is going to eliminate the need for either continued hammering or a much more efficient method of rock removal.”
Young said that in general, blasting can potentially cause “cosmetic damage to the weakest construction material” such as horsehair plaster in nearby houses, though Shaughnessy said the vibration levels would be well under state limits and pose less of a threat to foundations than seasonal temperature changes and high winds. Neighbors also worried about the possibility of radon gas release and cracked foundations, since the ledge under the Plaut property may extend under houses.
“There are a lot of unknowns [about potential damage] that make me very nervous,” said Justin Hopson, whose home at 38 Old Winter St. abutting the Plaut property dates from 1886.
One possibility is placing the hydrant farther from the house, reducing the requirement for 20 feet of trench, about half of which is complete. Stephens said they were “very open to exploring the feasibility of [having] the hydrant at the current limit of excavation” and they would confer with Fire Chief Brian Young to see if that was a workable solution.
The board acknowledged that they didn’t have the authority to order the Plauts to stop work but asked them to do so in good faith while planning continues in preparation for the next board meeting on September 9.
“You’re hanging out a giant ‘Trust me’ card,” Donnelly said. “It’s been a very long four weeks.”
Is a fire hydrant near a new house required by law? Aren’t there many neighborhoods (such as Old Concord Road) that do not have town water or hydrants?
The key fact here is that the property owners are not living on the property while this is going on. I’ve always had the opinion that the town should adopted bylaw that requires property owners to live on the property when any kind of demolition is happening, so they have to experience the disruption.
Our neighbor in Lincoln rebuilt their home after it was destroyed by fire, taking the opportunity to improve and expand the floorplan at the same time. Their home was built on rock ledge, the same ledge as our home. The expansion required using a huge rock-hammering machine to enlarge the basement, similar (no doubt) to what is being done at the Plaut’s new home.
Our master bedroom was just 20 yards away from the worksite, and my wife was pregnant at the time. The noise and vibration, carried through the rock into our home, was impressive. The work went on for quite a while as I recall, several weeks.
At the start of the project, we made just one request of our neighbor, which was that heavy equipment not be used before 8:00am. This was honored, with the brief exception of a couple of subcontractors who had not been told. We never told our neighbor just how loud the rock hammering sounded within our home. We saw no point to doing so: the work needed to be done, and it would go on for only a limited amount of time anyway. We also wanted to maintain our mutually considerate relationship with them, and it paid off: despite strong political differences, they were great neighbors for all of the 16 years we lived in that neighborhood.
Now, having been through it ourselves, I can certainly sympathize with the neighbors. On the other hand, from what I’ve seen so far here (and in earlier narratives from multiple sources), the Plauts seem to want to “do the right thing” with respect to the environment and their neighbors. In other words, I suspect they will fit in well with the vibe of Lincoln, and will become great neighbors and valued members of the community.
So, yes: surfacing the concerns is certainly justified. But let’s be kind about it: there’s enough rancor all around us in today’s world. There is neither a need nor benefit to manufacturing more, here in our own neighborhoods.
Having observed the meeting reported on here, it is very discouraging to see the vast amounts of money and a team of professionals executing this project facing off against the neighborhood and the Planning Board.
How can our small town volunteer boards, no matter how talented and staffed, effectively protect the values Lincoln espouses in its Vision Statement and the centuries of efforts to preserve our small town character?
How can we be proactive to ensure these conflicts are few and far between?
Or will the sheer wealth at the table dictate outcomes?
Is this the canary in the mine?
I pray not, but fear so.