GUILDERLAND — Residents have raised concerns over noise and work happening outside of approved hours at the future Costco Wholesale site on Western Avenue.

The project was delayed for years because of lawsuits.

Peak Construction was recently before the Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals to request a variance from the town ordinance governing noise during construction hours.

Peak’s Sept. 2 application to the town asked that the company be able to work six days a week at the site, Monday through Saturday, from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

Guilderland’s zoning code generally restricts the operational noise of a construction site, no greater than 75 decibels, to occur between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and prohibits work from taking place on weekends. 

The company was seeking the variance in order to complete the physical Costco building before winter conditions took their toll on the construction process, specifically the installation of the price club’s concrete floor, which board members were told could happen only after the building was made weather-tight.

Not being able to push the schedule now, the board was told, would result in delays, prolonging the project’s nuisance into spring. 

Public hearing

Peak’s request was met with unanimous opposition from nearby neighbors, particularly Westmere Terrace residents who’ve been raising concerns since Pyramid Management Group first announced project plans nearly a decade ago.  

Residents recounted for board members the ongoing disruptions that construction has had on their quality of life, including constant noise, significant shaking of their homes, and repeated instances of work starting before 7 a.m. 

“All summer long, they’ve been starting the workday at approximately 6 a.m.,” Westmere Terrace resident Lisa Hard told the board, “which is an hour before the town’s noise ordinance allows them to be working. Nothing was ever done about that.”

Hart said, “Every single day since this started, we’ve had to suffer with our homes vibrating and shaking with the use of all their heavy equipment and the noise from the equipment with their backup lights. Every single time the buckets hit the ground, [they go] Bang! And I mean it’s a bang, and your house shakes, your pictures shake. You have knickknacks, they shake.

Hart said her home doesn’t have a berm or trees to buffer it from the ongoing work, and “I work from home,” so all day long she’s trying to concentrate on a bouncing computer screen as her house trembles around her. “One neighbor actually described this as suffering through a continuous earthquake,” she said. 

But, it turned out, Hart and her neighbors’ fight wasn’t with Peak Construction; it was with a longtime foe.

Project superintendent Derek Snyder explained that his company was only responsible for building the physical Costco structure. The severe vibrations and pre-7 a.m. start times, he said, were the responsibility of the site’s developer, Pyramid, and its subcontractors responsible for earth-moving, grading, and utility work.

Jacqueline Coons, Guilderland’s chief building and zoning inspector, told board members a complaint listing similar issues to those voiced by residents on Oct. 15 had been filed with the town. 

When it came time for the board to vote on Peak’s request, those in favor — Richard Villa, Nichole Ventresca-Cohen, and Chairwoman Elizabeth Lott — reasoned the request was for eight weeks, which would negate Peak having to wait until spring to do its noisy work, while significant weight was given to Peak’s proactive approach, “being responsible and coming here for permission instead of another company that is violating laws,” as Villa described it. 

Sharon Cupoli and James Zieno based their dissenting votes on Westmere residents’ quality-of-life concerns over Peak’s scheduling issues. 

In approving the variance, the board placed several conditions on Peak:

— Saturday work is permitted between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.;

— Only when work includes concrete pours is Peak permitted to start the day at 5 a.m., and only Monday through Friday;

— Peak is also required to use muffling equipment for any work conducted before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m.

Town board

The 3-to-2 zoning board approval on Oct. 15 led some residents to the Oct. 21 town board meeting to request immediate action be taken to halt the project’s disruption; authorize an independent test of noise and vibration at the site; and investigate the zoning board’s decision as well as the underlying facts provided by Peak, in the form of a sound-level assessment.

Following residents’ recounting of the zoning board meeting, town board members took the opportunity to be disappointed.

Councilman Jacob Crawford expressed his deep disappointment that an “out-of-town contractor,” whose on-site supervisor in Guilderland has overseen construction of 18 Costcos, deemed its construction schedule more important than the welfare of Guilderland residents. 

The board generally agreed that the approved hours and noise levels were unfair, especially from the perspective of the town’s homeowners, many of whom see their homes as their major asset, and property damage as more than a minor inconvenience.

Supervisor Peter Barber said he would ask Coons to provide a formal report to board members outlining the steps her department will take to ensure Peak strictly adheres to the conditions of the variance.