Construction noise is a problem, Coquitlam resident says at public hearing

A six-storey apartment block with 61 rental homes will soon go up near the Lougheed SkyTrain station.

But an area resident told Coquitlam city council last month that he's tired of the construction noise in his neighbourhood and is asking the city to find ways to lessen the disruption for current homeowners.

The resident's comments came during a public hearing on rezoning bid by Pacific West Architecture for 701 and 703 Delestre Ave; the lots are owned by Vinod and Sarojini Chand, Xiangyu An and Xia Wang.

They plan to consolidate their 0.43-acre site — which has a steep 15-foot incline, or about a 1.5-storey differential, from south to north — to construct the purpose-built rental building at the end of the cul-de-sac over an underground parkade; the rental units would include six three-bedroom suites.

In his July 10 report to council, Chris McBeath, Coquitlam's acting director of development services, wrote that, besides the new construction, there are three active developments in close proximity: an apartment building with 90 units, a housing complex with 87 units and a childcare centre and a six-unit multiplex.

"We have to live there, too," the Edgar Avenue resident said while requesting for limits to construction.

Still, during the later council meeting and before council unanimously granted second and third bylaw readings (Coun. Brent Asmundson was not present), Mayor Richard Stewart said he felt for residents who have to bear the noise.

However, he made clear, the city's Burquitlam–Lougheed Neighbourhood Plan "has allowed for the appropriate [housing] densities for the SkyTrain station that opened seven years ago."

"We hear it all the time [about noise] and we empathize," Stewart said at the July 31 council meeting, the last before the summer break.

"We do what we can to mitigate but it’s impossible to eliminate."

Coun. Dennis Marsden encouraged Pacific West Architecture reach out and apply the city's policy, which encourages early and ongoing communication with residents.

Construction noise, he said, "is going to become more and more prevalent in a number of our neighbourhoods, where we’re going to see so many projects going sometimes simultaneous, sometimes sequentially.

"I think it is critical," Marsden continued.

"We see a lot of growth. We need a lot of housing, obviously, to address the growing population and immigration but we've got to make sure that we're showing appropriate respect for the residents there. Putting up with construction noise, it is difficult."

Meanwhile, the city stands to gain the following from the project: