After residents in March reported that hotel construction along Prien Lake Road had littered their yards and kept them up at night, Lake Charles city officials cited the developer and investigated the complaints.
The hotels, at the intersection of Prien Lake and Holly Hill roads, are separated from the neighborhood behind them by Contraband Bayou. One resident of that neighborhood, Jeff Ferguson, filed a complaint with the city about plastic foam pellets falling into the bayou and onto houses during construction.
City police examined the debris and cited the developer for not ensuring the pellets — which appeared to be remnants of foam insulation — were contained within the site, said City Planning Director Mike Huber.
Huber said investigators have since visited the site to follow up on the citation. “It appears that measures are in place to prevent the escape of such material in the future,” Huber said.
Residents also complained about noise issues at night. Huber said the hotels had secured a permit from the city allowing them to pour concrete at night to avoid traffic and safety issues. But he said it looks like the nighttime construction is over with.
“All the concrete’s been poured, and now they’re just building the hotels,” Huber said.
Another complaint the city received from residents was that bright lights were shining into their houses at night.
The city began receiving lighting complaints after the property was cleared last year, Huber said. Without the trees, he said, light from businesses along Prien Lake Road began streaming into homes across the bayou. Residents also complained about temporary work lights at the construction site.
Huber said residents voiced concern that lighting issues would only get worse. But he said the owners of the complex have agreed to adjust their plans to minimize the effect lighting has on the neighborhood. Instead of installing lighting on the hotel buildings, he said, they volunteered to install lighting along the parking lot edge shining inward, back toward the hotel.
Huber said residents asked the city if the hotel developers would be required to erect a buffer between their property and the neighborhood. He said zoning guidelines require a buffer if two properties are considered “adjoining.” But since Contraband Bayou separates them, the hotels and the neighborhood aren’t considered adjoining, he said, and buffering isn’t required.
“They would love to see trees still there blocking everything, but it’s just not required by the city ordinance,” Huber said.
He said he looked into another complaint about a barrier that the developer constructed between the hotel and the bayou. He said a resident was concerned that the barrier, about 3 feet tall, was illegally built in a floodway.
Huber said he and his team determined the barrier wasn’t in the floodway, although they noticed that soil added from the wall down to the bayou might be in an area the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designates as wetlands.
He said the city has contacted the Corps about the soil. A resident has also filed a complaint with the Corps, Huber said, and requested an investigation.
from American Press: Your Best News And Advertising Source - Home http://ift.tt/2pcmn73
0 التعليقات:
Post a Comment