L2 7|512022
CC
05 July 2022 Re: Residential Side Setback
The consideration of this Council to approve the installation of any or all air conditioners and certain plumbing equipment into residential side setbacks will, if done, prove to be more problematic than is realized now.
Consider that our housing stock in Redondo Beach will become denser as the State legislates zoning law changes resulting in multi-family buildings in single family home areas. This will result in more crowding, more noise, less open space, thus causing more stress and anxiety between neighbors. The need to protect and foster an atmosphere of peace and harmony is not accomplished by allowing more noise producing equipment in our side setbacks when there are other viable locations available to do so.
Consider, a house whose bedroom is five feet from the property line and the adjacent house puts in an a/c unit in the side setback extending out 24 inches. There is now only eight feet, six inches between the a/c unit and the neighbor's bedroom. There is no way the person in this nearby bedroom is going to be able to peacefully sleep with a 55- decibel a/c unit going on throughout the night. It is neither fair nor moral to take away the right of one person to peaceful and healthful sleep by another who either by design or by wealth lives a life surrounded by noise producing creature comforts.
Consider now, two people conversing in the side setback all evening at 40 decibels. A neighbor could call police with a disturbing of the peace complaint. Police might suggest moving to another location or that they whisper to each other with an admonition if the officer is called out again, they may receive a citation. Now, imagine an a/c unit at 55 decibels running all evening, but in this case the offended neighbor has no recourse whatsoever for relief from this louder noise because this level of noise has been codified as legal. In light of this example, allowing the installation of any noise producing mechanical or plumbing equipment into the side setback that could conceivably interrupt the peaceful quiet of the night would be both counterproductive and irresponsible.
In conclusion, if the City Council allows the installation of any noise producing mechanical or plumbing equipment into the residential side setback it will be an abdication of their responsibility to protect the premise that residents have a right to the peaceful and quiet use of their home. Redondo Beach residents deserve a more thoughtful consideration to the principles of fairness and equality.
Douglas Sieker
LZ 7/5/22
Cc
5 July 2022 Re: Residential Side Setback
We purchased our Redondo Beach home in 1993, 29 years ago. In 2000, the house next door to us was torn down and new construction went up which included an air conditioner placed into the side set back. Soon after, the quiet enjoyment we once had quickly dissipated and the pronounced a/c noise was quite disruptive, especially during the evening hours. We ended up having to shut our windows and we were not able to comfortably sleep in the master bedroom that was being hit the hardest with this intrusively obnoxious noise. And when our adult daughter came to visit, the bedroom she would use became unbearable to sleep in as well.
Seeking relief from the irritating noise of this air conditioner turned out to be a ten- year ordeal. We contacted: Code Enforcement, South Bay Center for Dispute Resolution, the Redondo Beach Police Department, The Mayor, City Manager, Assistant City Manager, the City Prosecutor and several Real Estate Attorneys with no success in helping solve our dilemma. It was after this ten- year mark that we eventually had the good fortune of coming in contact with a desk clerk in the Planning Department. In 2010, this clerk handed us a memo that addressed this very issue. William Meeker, Chief of Planning, had released this memo back in 1998 to the Planning Staff stating that "it would be reasonable and acceptable for air conditioning compressor units to be located within the required rear setback or in the required space between buildings, where noise and aesthetic impacts are not as severe." The memo states in its interpretation: "air conditioner compressor units may be permitted to project into the required rear setback and setbacks between buildings, but may not project into the required side and front setbacks."
It was only after we presented this very memo from William Meeker, Chief of Planning, that Code Enforcement finally pursued the situation and ordered that the neighbors air conditioner unit be moved from the side setback and be relocated into their rear setback where it should have been installed in the first place.
Our family both endured and suffered with ten long years of disruptive and abusive noise coming from an air conditioner unit that should never have been installed into the side setback, as well as being subjected to unnecessary and misleading bureaucratic run around.
Should air conditioning units now be allowed to be placed into the side setback, our family, and countless others, will be subject to the ongoing noise that will continue all night long, forcing us to keep windows shut, not being able to enjoy fresh air, a disruption of sleep, more stress and mental anguish and the loss of the peace and quiet that is rightful for everyone to have. The side setback is not the right place for plumbing and mechanical equipment that makes noise, especially air conditioners and the like.
If people need air conditioners and other noise making equipment, they have multiple options other than placing them in the side setback. I hope my story will shed some light onto this serious matter preventing others from having to undergo and suffer through this type of torment and agony.
Elaine Sieker