HomeMy WebLinkAbout0407.000-
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July 5, lUO
TI!I! HONORABLE CITY COCIICIL
Palo Alto, CalIfornIa
Bei.e cgmplllnt; Inytltiqa1:iOn -By.tUrx incorporated
Member. of the Council.
This b an informational report In respon •• to the city council's
request of July 2 tor a report on the nol •• co.plaints involving
Syctellix Incorporoted. 110 COIU1Cll actIon 1a requlred.
BAq1s:ground
In September 1989, Systemlx lDOO~rated, located at 3400 West
BaY5hore Road, submitted an application to the City of Palo Alto
Planning and community Development Department for a building
perait to modify an existing ware~~.e into a Biotechnology
Re.earch ana Development .ite for Ue fira. J:nclll4e6 in their
application was a provi.ion for the installation of a large heat
uchanger unit at; the rear of the structure. Tbe Arch! tectural
Review Board approved the plans for construc:tlon and all work vas
perfonoed with appropriate peraita and inspectIons. The
certifIcate of Ooc~pa~f (final inspection) took place on
APril 23, 1~90.
Hoi.9 QQmplainta
The beat exchanger became operational in early May. lIeighboring
residents found the excbanqer'a noise to be an annoyance and they
requ.sted Systeaix Incorporated to take tlae1y steps to reduce
the noloe level.
!'be Police Depan.ent vas first :matje awar. of the noise problu
after receiving a l.tt.~ dated May 14, 1990 fro. the residents in
the .. r.... After contact. was .ade with the residentll, a series of
sound aeter readinqs vere made and staff deterw.ined that the heat
excbanqer exceeded the City's noise ordinance iI.Its by ten
d.ecibel. betwe.en the hours of 2 •.•. end 4. a..... The heat
exchanger normally falb wIthin legal UaUs in the daytIme and
eveni"9 due to the increased ambIent noIse duri"9 those h~r5.
Sy.tealx Incorporated hired an acoustical engineer. and a noiae
attenuation plan was developed and implemented durl"9 late May.
The -adificatlona, including the installation of sound baffle.,
aound absorbing pado and plUllbIng chang .. , were coapleted by
June 10 and redu<;ed noi.a output to within three decibels of the
allowable It-it.
CMR.407,O
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with the 9041 of t.;)ieVill9 full co.pliance. S~"'iX returned to
the City In .1d-June tor approval of a construction project to
totally enoloae and sound-insulate the haat axchall9ar. Initial
.. tbate. indicated a cost of appro"iutely $45.000. Systellix
Incorporated required an additional sbort period of tille to
identify a proj~ct contractor. A contractor vas selected and
con"tructlon of the enol..."..e be9an today (July 5). The
anticipated date of co.pletlon is July 12. 1"0.
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InCorgeJl@Dt; aet ton
DurIll9 the paat eigbt v ...... ruident. bave contacted the Police
DepartJaent requestill9 enforcem.nt action and/or the sbutdown of
the exchanger. After discu •• ion with the city Attorney's office,
~taff deter.ined that remedial enforcement through the issuance
of criainal.citations would be deferred so 10119 as Systemi"
lnoorporate4 vaa takinq aggre •• ive, afflraative stepa to remedy
the probl.... A court order requirill9 abutdown of the .quipment
vaa not reque.ted because remedial action v.. being taken and
becau.. it. operation vas necessary to aalntaln conaiatent
temperature levele tor laboratory anisale.
Staff has maintained regular contact wIth the residents of
"enneth DrIve dnae the problea .... s init1&lly reported.
Recently, on July 3. a letter. (attached) axplaining the latest
plans and action being' taken to resolve the i.aue was hand
delivered to the resident..
11p<>n completion of the enclosure, tha pollee DepsrtJaent .. ill take
new aound level readings during various t.1M.a of' the day and
night. Should nolae levela continue to exceed ordinance limit5 1 the Pollee Depart.ent and Building InspectIon DIvIsion vIII
consult vith the City Attorney in order to obtain additional
Jl041flcatlons and construction,. and .s an ultlaate reJIedy,.
possible system shutdown.
CpOOluAJoo
The nola. emanatinq from Syste .. ix IDCOrpctrated '. heat exchanger
has been in violation of the City'. noIse ordinance and has been
a aourclll!l of frustration to the .urrounding residents. staff
believe" the enclosure will brill9 the beat exchanger into
co.pllance with the sound ordinance: however. thia doe. not
ellaInate the possibility that raaldente vl11 contInue to be
exposed to soae level of noi.e. staff wIll report further ?",",7.::-w~ JZ~ FRED KERHAJ(
Pollce Chi.f ChIef Bulldill9 Official
CU~~
IIILLIAJI ZAIIER c
CIty Kanager
cc Mr. Yebuda ElzakIas, 3373 J<anneth Drive
Ke. Karcla Talbert, 3381 J<enneth Drive
MS. Be.tria cashmore. 340S "enneth Drive
systeml" Incorporated
CMR:401:C
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Police Department
(41.5) 329-2406
June 19, 1990
~ Kenneth Drive
C)
Cit}' of JMo ftlk
1.0.101 '0250
;:'A~O AllO. CAL~OA;N!A '..1;3:':
Palo Alto, California 94303
Dear l!r.
ThIs latter is 02.n update on the progress being-made to resolve
the noise problem that you and your neighbors brought to the
attention of our department; in mid May. For the past few
waeks I have been in phone contact with many of you and with
Mr. Etz regarding the air conditioning unit at 3400 West
Baysbore. To date, Mr. Etz has taken three steps to quiet the
noise. coming f.roll his equipment.
_ -First, isolated pads w~re installed under the air eondit!oner~
\-Secondly, acoustical tOall was placed around the unit .. Lastly,
some plumbing cbanges were made that:. cause the unit to come on
less frequently, thus reducing' the. number of hours the machine
produces noIse. These changes brought the noise from the air
Conditioner to within three decibels of the allowable lillit.
In order to further silence the equipment.. Hr. Etz has
employed an acoustIcal engineer and an architec~ to develop
plans tor a large sound wall to be constructed. Those plans
shculd be reviewed and approved by the city Architectural
~eview Board by June 226 1990. Immediately following that ..
Mr. Etz will contract with builders to begin the wall.
Barring any unforseen delays, the wall should take two to
'three days to complete. Mr. Etz informs me that once the 'Wall
is bull t you should be unable to detect any noise from the air
condi tioner.
:I regret the inconvenie.nce and sleepless nights that you have
suffered While. this process takes place. As I have explained
to those ct you ~ bave spoken with most recently, enrorcement
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page two
Jw>e la, 199 CI
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action was not 4eeJJled appropriate ·prior to this time es a
reasonable alternative to resolving the problem. If you have
further questions, please feel free to ph~e ~e at
(ns) 329-HU.
S il'lCerely •
Lieutenant Sue Hac.
Trafti~ Division Mana~er
oc. BUlDans J\e1ations COmllittee
Willl~ Zener, city Mana~er
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Fol ice De:;.artJ:".ent
(41S) 329-2406
July 3,. 199'0
o
DE:ar Ke.nneth Fesicent ..
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In response to your inq-~irles and cC'OiUIoE:nts last nignt at the -City
cO'..:wcil reE:ting,. I am .....-ritiDg tbis :letter to !c ... ·crc inicn.ation
to l'oll on the pr09ress of the so;.mj structc.:.re t;ei 09 f,:rc-,pcse.:! at
.J" 0-0 W. 8a:l' s.'f',oTe.
I ltE=t toda.y ... ith City Attorne.y Bill Yayfie!d ar·.j B-:.lilding
Official Fred EEr1!';a!'l. Fred Eenr.an t.as spct:E:n to E-r ian Etz of
S)'&tE:lrix a.nd t,as a'Jthorized tte b<Jilding of a large 5tru~ture to
E.!'lClcse the cbill e-r. n;e -cor.tractc,rs c; re scr:.e,5'J]e:o to regir. "'-':Jrit:
on T"knas-cay", July 5, 1990. The co .• str..Kticn ~'tould lest ::.:;,?roxi
S"-a,tely one -,.s:e:k:. 'Ir .. e cbiller .. "25 lzs,t I!:.E'?!su!"ed at 3 cE:citels
,abC··,,'€: t.he a)!co.:.2:ble lii!1it. 'It.e st.rucb:;;re th~t .ill e;-·;:lcse tte
ctliller snould stifle the r.cise e;-,e'1..igh so it is r,o lo~':ie:r in vjola!:i(.".
cf the sound ordir,~rJce.
Bet..,een now and tbe ccrr"pletie,n 'Of tt.e stn::cture ... if you t.;:.~.'e
q":Estions .. ple:ase: feel free to p-~.o:;-;e r;e at (41S} 329-;2{<C.;.
Sir.cErely ..
!'.leutenaJ:'lt Sue Y.ace
Noise Manager
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