Residents in densely populated Fort York say noise exemption rules need to change

Some residents in the densely populated pocket of Fort York in downtown Toronto say the city needs to do more to ensure that locals who live there can also enjoy their homes and neighbourhood while large crowds attend various loud events in the area.

The neighbourhood is home to a number of event spaces including stackt Market, the Bentway and the Fort York historical grounds, all of which play host to numerous events throughout the year, sometimes simultaneously.

“I live downtown. I signed up for street cars honking, sirens, the Gardener traffic – that’s like my lullaby,” said local resident Monika.

“This [past] Sunday was extra bad because there was an all-day event at stackt and then there was one at the Bentway.”

Monika says the combination of the two prolonged events had her windows shaking for hours and she couldn’t escape the noise.

“It’s a constant rattling hum … a vibrant city doesn’t have to vibrate all the time,” she said.

“There’s nothing people in the area can do. With condo rules – you can’t just pop out the windows, put in what you want. So in terms of mitigating sound, it is pretty much just try cranking it down a bit? I’m sure people will still be dancing. They’ll still be drinking. They will still be having a great time.”

With the approval of the ward’s councillor, the city grants concerts and events noise exemption permits, which allow for levels to go up to 85 decibels as opposed to 55, measured 20 metres from the source. Monika feels in residential areas, that needs to change.

“The issue that me and some of the other people I’ve chatted with in the community is that the current level of 85 decibels is way too high … we definitely want to support these places, but reduce the decibel level on the exemption permit,” she said.

“We need to keep [arts and culture activities] going on. But at the same time, if it’s a few thousand people cranking up the volume to the point that other people can’t listen to their music inside … it’s just not neighbourly.”

The City of Toronto tells CityNews that updates to the noise bylaw were adopted by City Council in February and March and those related to noise exemptions will come into effect in September. They will differentiate between lower-impact and higher-impact activities and additional conditions will be placed on the latter.

“The additional conditions for higher impact events may include; adhering to specific orientation of equipment, installation of sound dampeners or deadeners as well as requiring the applicant to pay for the City to monitor the sound levels,” said City of Toronto senior communications coordinator Shane Gerard.

Monika has her doubts.

“In the exemption permit, there’s [already] a line [saying that] speakers cannot face residential area. Well, good luck. Pretty much everywhere here is residential,” she said.

After submitting a noise complaint recently, Monika said a bylaw officer told her event speakers at stackt market face the railway tracks so as not to be blasting into the homes directly across the street, above the Farm Boy.

“But guess what? That means the sound goes directly across the tracks and the Fort and like a wave, crashes into my home,” she said.

Other updates to the noise bylaw state that for amplified sound activity, the noise will now be measured from the lot line of the event instead of 20 metres from the source. But the level limit remains at 85 decibels.

“City Council approved adding C-weighted measurements to decibel conditions for noise exemption permits, which is a more accurate measurement of bass sounds. These updates better reflect reasonable limits for compliance and, in consultation with an acoustical engineer, staff did not determine it necessary to lower the existing 85dBA limit,” said Gerard, when asked specifically about the threshold number.

He added the city has gone through extensive rounds of consultations regarding how best to accommodate all parties with respect to noise exemption permits and each application is carefully considered.

“City staff work individually with those requesting noise exemption permits to ensure their sound set-ups are optimized for the location they are at,” he said.

Meanwhile, Monika says she’s trying everything she can to cope with the sound levels in her home, “in hopes of minimizing exposure to unhealthy levels of unwanted sound and vibration.”

“I’ve actually had to sort of redo my entire apartment, move my living room into my den [where it’s quieter],” she said.

“They forget that people live down here too.”