“So I’ve gone the direct route, the DCRA route, the earplug route (two different brands), the white noise machine route, and the drinking-too-much-whiskey route, which seems to have worked the best so far”

Photo by PoPville flickr user LaTur

Ed. Note: On twitter DCRA tweets this mornning “Can you please provide the address? I can report it to our Noise Inspector once I have that information. [address given] Thank you! I will report this to Inspector Williams now.”

“Dear PoPville,

There have been a lot of early-morning noise issues in the alley adjacent to my apartment building (near Scott Circle) in recent months. One (non-city) waste management company in particular has started showing up daily between 3 and 3:30 a.m. to empty several of the dumpsters. According to the DCRA site:

Trash collection by private haulers is prohibited between the hours of 9 pm and 7 am in residential, special purpose, or waterfront zones, or within 300 feet of any of these zones. These rules do not apply to Department of Public Works vehicles, only private trash collection companies.

According to the DC zoning map, we are in a special purpose zone. I’ve called the company directly three times and been told this “would not be a problem any more.” Not the case as of 3:12 a.m. this morning. I left a voicemail with the manager. We’ll see what happens. In addition to directly contacting the company, I’ve filed numerous complaints with DCRA to no avail, but I wasn’t really hopeful about any results from that route. There have been a couple of other companies breaking the ordinance here and there, but this company has been particularly egregious…and at god-awful early hours. I shrug off 6 a.m; 3 a.m. is major bummer.

There have also been what seem to be some construction contractors who show up around 4-4:30 every few days to load and unload heavy equipment. I know the ordinance also included “construction noise,” but I’m not quite sure what this entails. They sure are excessively loud (as metal ladders tend to be, I guess). And excessively early.

So I’ve gone the direct route, the DCRA route, the earplug route (two different brands), the white noise machine route, and the drinking-too-much-whiskey route, which seems to have worked the best so far. This is a city, but the noise ordinances are in place for a reason. So what’s the next step? Should I wait in the alley tomorrow morning at 3 with a cup of coffee for the driver, explain the ordinance, and tell him he doesn’t need to be such an overachiever…that he can get a few (FOUR!!) more hours of shut-eye? I’m getting pretty sleep deprived at this point.”