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A form of neighbor torture
10/23/2009 10:44 PM by John M
The constant drone of a gas-powered generator is fraying nerves and has neighbors asking about the legality of running a generator nearly non-stop for several days. Is this ok or what?
um… take two??
That sounded like a vibrator…
not that I know what one of those sounds like.
For the full experience, connect your computer to large speakers and turn it up.
That’s ~60 feet away & recorded on a phone.
The generator is in the back yard of the house, but can clearly be heard from the street out front down the block. From the alley in person, this is loud.
Ok, I tried the thing with the speakers, and now it sounds like a super duper only for the really really frigid vibrator.
no, for the full experience try living next door. I’m beginning to wonder if a “walk-by shooting” of an inamnimate object is illegal…
There were some people in the house on the corner of 22nd and Cedar a few years ago who ran a generator non-stop like that… word on the street was that their power had been cut for delinquent bills (don’t know if that was true but it seemed to make sense)… they eventually moved out (evicted?), and right after they left the house strangely caught fire (which was featured here on chpn). I heard that the crew moved into another house up here somewhere – maybe it’s the same folks running this generator now.
Night Six: I understand Manuel Noriega’s pain during the standoff. It sounds like there is a prop plane from hell outside my window.
I’m not familiar with the City’s noise ordinance, but maybe this is a situation where it could be enforced?
Has anyone asked the occupants about it? I know that’s not always a comfortable situation but it would answer the question. Noise ordinance doesn’t permit noise like that after 10pm and if they’re using it to power the house on a regular basis it’s also an electrical safety violation.
call the police and make a complaint…the 10 pm noise ordinance is correct. They’ll get tired of the repeated police calls and correct the situation or move on. A call to the building inspector may to the trick as well.
Call the city’s building code inforcement. If it’s against code they will take care of it.
I just called the property owner and am trying the police again later (probably futile since it is the weekend). The property owner seemed a little angry that there was a generator hooked up to his house. We’ll see how that goes.
UGH!
We lost power in the fall of 2006 (?) and Comcast chained a generator to the light pole outside my bedroom window and left it running 24/7. It DROVE ME CRAZY!!! Finally, after 2 days of no sleep, I had to go out and switch it off. I know that’s tampering but from 2am to 6am, who’s watching TV anyway?
FYI. Comcast service is not for TV’s only..Many use Comcast for phone service as well. Alarm systems, smoke and fire detectors, medical alert systems are also powered by Comcast for those who subscribe to those services. I would say all of those are important let alone, during emergency circumstances…wouldn’t you agree Katherine J? I hope you reconsider the next time you decide to turn off their generator. I bet you would feel bad if your Mom was on the other side of that medical alert button only to receive no help!
re #13, next time I’d jack into it, might as well get some benefit from it.
Suggestion: if they have no power, the landlord has been notified by Dominion Va. Power that the power is off. The power company does that for liability issues. So the owner should not have been surprised – angry maybe, but not surprised.
I know a Libby Hill resident who ran a large, noisy generator 24/7 after Hurricane Isabel and drove the neighbors crazy.
I think I’d try the police and use the noise ordinance against them, at least at night.
I lived in the lower part of a duplex a couple of years ago, the power upstairs was cut off but the tenant kept telling the owner she was days away from paying both rent and power bill. She ran a generator all those months, too. It dragged on from Feb until May when she was finally evicted. Most unpleasant to live around, you have my sympathy.
I just listened to it. There has got to be an ordinance that prohibits that kind of constant noise, regardless of time.
I would imagine that the city could put a stop to it.
Just take a baseball bat to it. Problem solved.
there is another generator that runs constantly on 25th.
it is noisy and annoying, for sure.
But in these tough economic times, a little discomfort on my part seems a small price to pay for the unfortunate situation so many are facing right now. I’m sure job loss may play a part in their needing an alternative source of energy right now. Winter is coming and people need to stay warm.
t #18, have you considered the cost of gas that it takes to run these things? Plus, the generator isn’t cheap unless someone else purchased it. Those things cost big bucks to buy.
Additionally, the power company has a program to help people with paying their electric bills.
Sorry I don’t sound more sympathetic, but when I spent a few months living with one going because of a neighbor, it was nasty. After the eviction, the landlord showed me the place, it was trashed, soft drinks poured on floors, holes punched in walls, food wrappers all over, and drug evidence everywhere (plastic bag corners, bits of pot, other stuff). My sense was that if that person had not spent money on fast food and drugs, the power bill would have been paid and the generator that was borrowed wouldn’t have run. Can’t speak to the current situation but that was my experience two years ago.
I’m sure it isn’t the case EVERYWHERE. But a friendly talk with a neighbor sure beats calling the police for everything. I know there are times when it is appropriate. But we can’t jump to assume someone’s situation.
As for the gas to run a generator, I’m sure the cost beats the electric and gas bill I pay. When you think about the fact that they probably use it very conservatively, where as, when it all it takes is flipping a switch for lights, we quickly let our bill get high.
Says the woman with too many lights on right now.
I know my neighbor a couple doors down. I know he doesn’t live in his home right now because of a crime against him a year ago. I can’t speak to his resident, other then I know they are “related” as in, god-son or nephew….
So, instead of calling the cops, I take my neighbor’s judgment because I trust him and took the time to talk to him.
I had a guy behind me that was playing his sax from 2PM until 11pm or midnight and beyond all summer. He played along to R&B cover songs playing on a boom box. Some days he’d practice the same song for 8 hours in a row. He was really bad at it, and he did not get any better as he got more drunk.
I tried to do the neighborly thing and see if he’d not play so loud so late. He ended up getting his hackles up and it almost got really ugly. After that we just called the cops on him. The problem was, since I’d gone over and talked to him, we figured that he probably knew that it was us calling the cops. The neighborly thing has its place and time, but if your neighbor is an asshole then they’re an asshole and you might get the short end of it.
Our guy moved or went back to prison or something and it has been wonderfully quiet ever since.
I’ve heard some stories about the tenants and/or people who frequent that house. Any talk with them is going to wind up being far from friendly from their end.
From #21: “The neighborly thing has its place and time, but if your neighbor is an asshole then they’re an asshole and you might get the short end of it.”
Thanks, John, that pretty much nails it.
In my experience, people ARE assholes when you confront them. They’re stubborn & defensive and don’t want to admit to any wrongdoing, but ultimately they do make some kind of effort to reverse the situation when they become aware that the spotlight is on them.
Thank you Caroline. Why fight asshole with more asshole?
You live in a city where houses are close. Part of the joy of city life is some level of annoyance and noise.
If you wanted peace and quiet, the suburbs are better suited to your lifestyle.
This comment:
“Our guy moved or went back to prison or something and it has been wonderfully quiet ever since.”
rings of bad taste.
Those of you that complain of your neighbors, I wonder if you make any effort at all to be good neighbors when things are bothering you. If your only a neighbor when you feel your rights to peace are being invaded.
I have had problems with my neighbors daughter (the house attached to mine) playing very loud music longer after my two young children had gone to be. BUT because I had been social with her from the first day we became community, asking her to stop prompted and apology on her part and a friendly encounter.
Of course people aren’t going ot respond well to you if you only choose to be part of the community when your annoyed or if you see your neighbors as a problem instead of the PEOPLE who live near by.
Build you community with kindness…not preconceived notions of who they are before you even get to know them.
I called code compliance. Apparently two other people called before I did. I’m hoping this means someone finally went out.
If they lost power, there are avenues for assistance. And I’m sure, at this point, the price of gas surpassed the price of power. A generator is a temporary fix, not a till-I-move alternative source of energy.
I expected some noise since it is a city but not a constant grinding mechanical noise throughout the entire block all day every day.
I have lived in the house next door to them for over a year and a half. They have not had electricity for at least a year of that. I doubt anybody (and so many different people are on their porch I don’t know who actually lives there and who doesn’t) works in that house. I have been hit up for money by the assorted people that come in and out of there. The two young kids have been outside on school nights when I am come home at 11:30 at night. The arguments are loud enough for people to hear across the street. The generator wasn’t there one day and appeared the next. WE have witnessed the lady leave on foot and come back on a bike. Two bikes have disappeared off of our back porch since they moved in. We had to install a lock on our back gate because their kids kept opening the gate and letting our dogs out. Still feel we need to do things the neighborly way?
Shaunelle, #27 – I don’t live where this is going on, but based on my experience a couple of years ago, doing things the neighborly way doesn’t always work. It sure didn’t for me and I really tried. I do think it’s a good idea to try at first, but it just doesn’t always work. I got cursed at for my efforts, among other things. Good luck to you, hope it gets resolved soon.
Is there generator stolen? They are relatively expensive in my experience…probably more expensive than paying a power bill thats a few months behind.
that #29 is the question we are trying to figure out. it just appeared on their back porch one day…
CBS-6 is here and filming about it.
Shaunelle, maybe calling the cops in the interest of finding out if the generator is stolen might be a good idea. You don’t have to speak to the officer in person, and it sounds like with channel 6 there now, they would have trouble blaming anyone in particular.
Wait – it’s on their PORCH? Is it a wooden porch? That’s a fire hazard, I think. Those things tend to leak gas. It should be on the ground.
A guy came there and gassed it up, while it was running, while Wayne Covil was filming, the kids were running around (at 10:45) and the woman who lives there[?] more or less said she was running it because she could, he shouldn’t be filming and she was running it because she can’t pay the electric bill. Wayne suggested gas had to have cost more at this point. No retort. This is going to be fun.
i heard all this noise last night at 11pm when i was trying to go to sleep- and i’m a couple blocks away! it was really annoying trying to fall asleep with a constant buzzing in my ear! Shaunelle- i feel for you! i hope this gets resolved soon- i can’t imagine how you’re living right next door to all that! Good Luck:)
I feel bad for all involved.
The noise must be driving the neighbors insane. And, like CRD said, she is probably having trouble with other bills too, and will soon be evicted.
I can also see the lady’s side the story, too. I am sure she did not buy the generator, but probably already had one or borrowed it from someone. These days, electricity really is a basic need and I don’t think she should go without it.
As for the ‘neighborly’ thing to do, would it be way more neighborly to take up a collection to help her pay her bill rather than insist she live without electricity? All I am saying, is it really ‘neighborly’ to politely ask someone to live without a basic need?
Wayne showed what he recorded to some city officials. They just got served with a 48-hour notice to get the power and water turned back on. There are kids in that house.
I can see doing whatever it takes to get power but this was bound to draw unwanted attention. It would have come to this if, the first night, we didn’t bother trying to figure out wtf the noise was and the police actually came.
I wish someone made a call over the summer when they didn’t have water (and it probably never came back) or a teacher realized the kids didn’t have access to running water or the city noticed this house had both utilities pulled BEFORE Channel 6 had to stick a video in their face.
They’ve agreed to be interviewed on camera and are (finally) seeking assistance. If someone from the city came out the first seven times I called them, maybe this wouldn’t have been such a fiasco. Or if they sought assistance at the start.
Family Without Electricity Turn to A Generator (wtvr 10/29/09)