GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Neighbors in one Grand Rapids community say they're tired of dealing with noise from a local business. They claim the noise impacts their health and "quality of life."
At rush hour, it's normal to hear cars on the freeway, but neighbors say the noise goes beyond the expected.
On Tuesday, when FOX17 visited the neighborhood, the sound of a semi-truck backing up could be heard several feet from the business in question- Hearthside Foods on Oak Industrial Dr.
"This is the noise that comes from directly from the back daily basis, 24/6 let's give them six," Beth Batts said.
"We're used to noise. We're used to living in the city. We love it here. So you have to understand that when they complain about five years of this kind of abuse, it really does take its toll," former City Commissioner Lynn Rabaut said at a city commission meeting Tuesday.
Residents near this location claim the noise is louder when they're trying to sleep. An issue they say has been going on for five years.
"It's obviously quieter at night so these noises resonate much more amplified during the nighttime during the daytime because of traffic. They have constant banging of trucks backing up of semi trucks," Mike Tillman said.
Rabaut, like Tillman, lives in the area. Rabaut also has expressed frustration with the company, saying the time to act is long overdue.
"It's time to hit this company with fines," Rabaut said.
Grand Rapids recently did an independent study on the concerns
There's so much sound from the highway and for the businesses in that area, it was very difficult to discern exactly where it was coming from," Grand Rapids Managing Director of Public Services James Hurt told FOX17.
While they were not able to definitively discern the source, FOX17 connected with Hearthside about the issue.
"We're concerned about it. They're our neighbors. So a lot has been done. I think the gentleman that's leading this is quite agitated, and I don't blame them. I don't like noise at all," Hearthside Spokesperson Carl Melville said.
Hearthside says they’ve committed a quarter of million dollars to mitigate the issue. An investment the say is in the name of being neighborly.
"It's the cost of being a good corporate citizen," Melville added.
The city says they plan to work with the neighbors and the business to resolve this issue. Grand Rapids City Attorney Anita Hitchcock says she plans to speak with residents this week and discuss legal matters and why enforcement is challenging.
