Verdun residents say Petit à Petit daycare noise unbearable
Frequent screaming at Verdun daycare prompts noise complaint
Martine Mongrain has lived just off a relatively quiet stretch of De L'Église Street since 1990.
A resident of Cool Street in Verdun, she used to enjoy going out into her backyard to have a nice morning coffee, read a book and relax after work.
But since a daycare with up to 80 children moved in next door in 2014, she rarely goes outside anymore because of the sound of children screaming all day. The daycare's yard is directly behind her own.
"Here in the city, very few people have the chance to have a green space. We have our little green space here, and all the neighbours too, and we want to enjoy it," Mongrain said.
She said she and her neighbours are accustomed to having kids in the backyards, but that the noise coming from the daycare is unlike anything she's ever heard before.
She said the sound of children playing is noisy but tolerable. However, she said that when the daycare educators organize group activities they often yell loudly and ask the children to scream, too.
Lack of consultation?
She said she first discovered the Garderie Petit à Petit Verdun daycare wanted to build next door in the summer of 2013.
Mongrain said she and her neighbours asked the city for more information and to be consulted before construction began.
However, she said, construction began unannounced in December 2013. The daycare opened last summer.
Now she and two dozen of her neighbours have signed a petition asking the city to force the daycare owner to put in some measures to reduce and absorb the sound, such as a sound wall.
If the noise can't be suitably reduced, Mongrain said, the petition asks that the daycare be compelled to move.
The city ombudsman's office told CBC News it would look into the complaint, but that children playing is not usually considered to be "excessive noise."
Noise driving tenants out
Apartment building owner Zalil Rahman said his tenants are fed up with the noise level coming from the daycare and its outside yard.
"I lost this year two tenants because of this. They moved because they cannot tolerate these noises," Rahman said.
I lose this year two tenants because of this. They moved because they cannot tolerate these noises.- Zalil Rahman, apartment building owner
He said he's worried that the proximity to the daycare will affect his ability to rent out the apartments he owns and could drive down the value of his property.
He said the owner "doesn't care" about the neighbours' noise complaints, and that the city hasn't responded to their petition.
The owner told CBC News that it's a fact of life that kids make noise and that the neighbours will just have to get used to it.
The building was formerly occupied by a garage and is zoned for commercial use.
"We have to respect the law. This building was a commercial building, we respect it," Rahman said. "But when it's becoming noisy, affecting the tenants' life, plus my property value, this has to be rectified. I am requesting this to the owner and the Ville de Montréal, [who should] to do something to protect my rights too."