Noisy neighbours
Golf Street residents upset with excessive noise, garbage, further disturbances from Lakeridge Health
Golf Street residents Ritchie Borisenko and Maria Cammisuli knew that living near Lakeridge Health would come with certain issues, but got more than they bargained for when it came to noise and other problems from the hospital, including discarded gowns left in bushes, cigarette butts from smoking staffers and deliveries in the middle of the night.
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
For Maria Cammisuli and Ritchie Borisenko, they thought they knew what they were getting themselves into when they bought a house directly across the street from a hospital.
Looking out the front window of their Golf Street home, the rear of Lakeridge Health Oshawa looms, a staff entrance is a few paces from their front door and on the opposite side of a brick wall is the heart of the hospital’s shipping and receiving operations.
“We know that they’re there, we know that they have to function, we know ambulances drive by,” Cammisuli says.
However, what they didn’t expect would be the amount of noise created in the small hours of the night – noise that, in their minds, doesn’t need to be taking place in the middle of the night. In recent months, it has gotten to the point where a full night’s sleep is a rarity and the couple are being woken up in the early hours most days of the week. And they’re apparently not alone. Talking with their neighbors the couple realized they are not the only ones with complaints and some long-time residents have been dealing with similar issues for years.
Not only is there the shipping noise as deliveries come in, but it seems in some cases shippers have a complete disregard for the surrounding neighbours, as The Express viewed a video of one driver first pulling a stack of large plastic bins from his truck before slamming them down on the concrete, then dragging and kicking them across the pavement.
The couple are also dealing with cigarette butts being tossed on their boulevard from staffers on their break, along with other discarded hospital memorabilia such as dirty gowns they are forced to pull out of their bushes. Cars will also idle outside their front door as staff are picked up and dropped off, and medical gas tanks are refilled in the shipping area.
In one memorable instance, staff outside in the early hours were driving a Bobcat up and down the street and basically having a “party” before Borisenko was forced to step outside and tell them to be quiet.
The couple worked continuously with Lakeridge to try and find some relief from these issues, but got nowhere. Some signage has been installed to stop staff from smoking in the area, and further security cameras have been put up to address any future problems, but the couple were told that no changes could be made to the logistics of the hospital’s shipping or their receiving schedules.
This past April, the two contacted municipal law enforcement staff, who suggested repeatedly that the couple should consider obtaining a lawyer.
“We’re trying to solve this amicably, through channels and deal with it like normal people and have open conversations and make sure good relationships are in place because we have to live here,” Borisenko says. “I don’t want to sue anybody, I don’t want to go to court, that’s a waste of time and money.”
Following meetings with city and Lakeridge staff, it was recommended that Lakeridge file for a noise bylaw amendment with the city. The request appeared on council’s corporate services agenda at its latest meeting earlier this month.
It was there that the couple took their plight to councillors.
“We’re not naive, we moved across the street from a major commercial installation,” Borisenko told councillors. “What we were not expecting is the level of disturbance happening overnight.”
Several councillors were responsive to the couple’s plight, including Councillor Nancy Diamond, who noted that Lakeridge has previously not been very responsive to issues with their neighbours.
“This is a 24 hour a day operation, I recognize that. However, my experience with Lakeridge Health has been unfortunate when it comes to neighbours,” she said, noting that in past experiences, she “might as well have been talking to the wall.”
Other councillors saw a simple solution in building a stronger noise barrier, or perhaps moving the busy shipping lanes to those bays that are furthest from Golf Street. The fact that the hospital can’t change their shipping schedules had some councillors baffled.
“There’s no reason they can’t come through normal operating hours,” said Councillor Doug Sanders.
Diamond put forward a motion to table the hospital’s noise bylaw exemption and have Mayor John Henry meet with Lakeridge staff to pursue a solution to the problem.
According to Lloyd Rang, the director of communications for Lakeridge, negotiations are ongoing to set up a date for such a meeting. He also provided a brief statement regarding the issue.
“Our most important responsibility is to take care of the people who come through our doors. At the same time, we also work hard to be a good neighbour to the people who live near our hospitals, and their needs are important to us,” Rang states. “So we’ll be sitting down with Mayor Henry in the next few days to see if there’s more we can do to help our neighbours, while also taking great care of our patients.”
For now, the couple say they are encouraged that some progress could be made.
“We’re optimistic that there’s going to be a lot more communications and that the hospital is going to be much more aware now of how much we’ve been dealing with and how much we’ve been coping with,” Cammisuli says. “We’re hopeful that some resolution, or some efforts will be made to alleviate this.”