What right does a property owner have to make noise on his own property, and what right do neighbors have to not have to hear that noise? This issue came up when a conditional use permit (CUP) application was brought before the county board on Tuesday, January 11, 2011.
According to a Planning Commission report to the board, Bradley and Judy Sillman, whose main residence is in the Twin Cities, bought 1.72 acres of land overlooking Caribou Lake in 2008. They received a temporary RV permit that expired last October, and the Cook County Office of Planning and Zoning then asked them to apply for a CUP. They did, requesting a fiveyear permit that would allow “the extended use of a recreational vehicle for habitation.”
At the Planning Commission’s review of the application on December 8, four Caribou Lake property owners expressed displeasure with the noise from a generator that powers the RV when the Sillmans stay on their property.
“Steve Bragg initiated comments,” says the Planning Commission’s report to the board, “by stating there was ‘no opposition to the request if limited solely to the camper,’ but the ‘generator is offensive to all the people on the lake.’
“Tom Swadburg stated that ‘Sillman said he would start building two years ago,’ and added, ‘You wouldn’t believe the noise’ and ‘It is obnoxious.’
“Rene Swadburg stated, ‘Morning, noon, and night, that generator is all you hear.’
“Scott Platzer indicated the Sillmans ‘keep the place in good condition’ and that he had ‘no objection to the RV,’ but if ‘he intends to build, he should pull power from the adjacent power line. This would eliminate all the problems.’”
The report goes on to say, “Commissioner Dave Tuttle voiced his concerns about the widespread ‘use of RV’s in the county’ and that he would ‘support hours of generator operation between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.’ with an additional recommendation of ‘power by midsummer.’
“Chair Shari Baker cited … the generator’s impact on the ‘area aesthetics.’
“…[Planning Commissioner John] Barton indicated ‘we need to be careful about the definition of aesthetics.”
A letter to Administrator Lane from neighbors Larry and Kathy Gere stated their objection to the granting of a CUP. “This would be setting a precedence [sic] that could give other persons the idea they could do the same thing (on any lake in Cook County),” the letter said. “A recreational vehicle placed back in the woods where it cannot be seen from a road might be permissible, but not on a lake.”
Another letter, from Charles Herrmann, called for “no camping trailers or RVs or tents or tar paper shacks….”
The Planning Commission approved the CUP and forwarded it to the county board with eight recommended conditions, including requirements that the permit be reviewed in two years if the Sillmans had not yet constructed a garage with living quarters as they have planned, that power be connected to the site no later than July 1, and that the generator not be operated earlier than 8:00 a.m. or later than 7:00 p.m.
Bradley Sillman could not be at the Planning Commission’s December meeting, but he was at the county board’s January 11 meeting. He assured the board that they could get electricity to the site by July 1. “The generator’s not any fun for me, either,” he said.
Sillman said they had been keeping their generator off between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. Since they couldn’t get up to their property until at least 9:00 p.m. on Fridays, he requested that they be allowed to use the generator until 10:00 p.m. so they could recharge their RV batteries after they arrived. While they bring fully charged batteries with them, expanding the RV’s side units drains them considerably, he said.
Sillman said the 14-horsepower generator is about the same size as a lawn mower engine. He has stacked wood around the generator to muffle the noise. He said he wanted to respect his neighbors but took issue with being given more stringent requirements than other property owners around the county.
Minnesota Administrative Rule 7030 addresses noise pollution and is based on “present knowledge for the preservation of public health and welfare.” It defines daytime hours as 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The county board did not discuss whether the generator on the Sillman property violated requirements of the rule related to decibel level. To violate the rule, the volume at the edge of the neighbors’ lots would have to exceed 60 decibels if the generator was running more than 30 minutes out of an hour.
The board discussed the possibility of Sillman building an insulated box around his generator. Commissioner Jim Johnson said, “We’re dealing with some pretty micro minutiae.”
By split vote, the board passed a motion allowing the generator to be on from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. but requiring that it be contained inside an insulated shed. Voting no were Sue Hakes and Jim Johnson. Johnson stated that he thought they should have accepted the recommendation of the Planning Commission, which would have required that the generator be off after 7:00 p.m.
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja commented on how noise affects him: “On certain days, everything is too loud for me, and on other days, I don’t hear anything.”
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