Proposed Childcare and Café within SHA Development, Girven Road, Mount Maunganui - Noise Assessment

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1 14 June 2016 Momentum Planning and Design Tauranga Dear Sir, Re: Attention: Richard Coles 1.0 Dear Sir Re: Proposed Childcare and Café within SHA Development, Girven Road, Mount Maunganui - Noise Assessment As requested, we have carried out an acoustic assessment relating to the proposed development on the corner of Girven Road and Patterson Street in Mount Maunganui, and our findings and recommendations are set out below. The subject site is currently used as a Holiday park/campground and will be redeveloped as a Special Housing Area (SHA). The development includes a childcare centre (Patterson Street) and café (Girven Road) which are the focus of this assessment. 1.0 Noise Performance Standard We have based our review in terms of compliance with the noise rules contained in the Operative Tauranga City Plan. In the City Plan the subject site is zoned Suburban Residential. With the exception of a commercial zoned property adjoining the site on the eastern side (Centre 77 on Girven Road) all adjoining properties are also zoned Suburban Residential. For activities within the Residential zone, Rule 4E.2.1 of the City Plan specifies the following noise limits: 0700 to 2200 hours 50 dba Leq 2200 to 0700 hours 40 dba Leq and 70 dba Lmax The above noise limits apply at or within the boundary of neighbouring residential zoned properties. This includes: Design Acoustics Ltd Phone PO Box 4540 Mobile Mt. Maunganui 3149 tony@designacoustics.co.nz

2 The properties across Paterson Street and also the adjoining land to the east of the Childcare centre. The building on this site is a two storey building and is used for commercial office premises. The residential zoned land to the south of the café this is also used for commercial office activities (accountant s office). The 50 dba Leq daytime noise limit for the Residential zone is considered to be a reasonable daytime noise limit. It is generally accepted that noise limits of dba Leq during the day, and dba Leq during the night, are reasonable to control noise in a residential environment. Since Girven Road is a busy and noisy area, compliance with the 50 dba Leq noise limit will protect neighbouring residential activities to a high degree. It is expected that this area will become more commercial in nature over time, especially along Girven Road, as can be seen by the commercial activities which have already been established in this area. Note that we have not assessed noise at residential buildings within the SHA development as these are understood to form part of the development and any noise effects from the café or childcare centre are accepted. Rule 4E.2.1 also does not apply to noise from residential activities. 2.0 Noise Assessment Child Care Centre The child care centre is planned to cater for up to 115 children and will typically operate Monday to Friday between 7.00am and 6.00pm. Outside these hours there will be minimal activity on the site. There will be no childcare activities on weekends or public holidays. Since the centre only operates on weekdays between 7.00am and 6.00pm, the main issue is compliance with the daytime noise limit of 50 dba Leq at the adjoining residential properties to the east (which are mostly used for commercial activities) and at residential zoned land across Patterson Street to the north. Noise sources on site can be broadly grouped as follows: vehicle movements. outdoor play area. noise from activities inside the main building. Our review includes the noise control treatment which we have recommended - this includes the construction of a 2.0 metre high close-boarded fence on the eastern boundary of the child care site, as shown on Figure 1 attached. Further, to protect the upper level of the two storey commercial building on the land to the east, we have recommended an acoustic shade fence to the central area of this fence, opposite this building. The shade fence will be constructed along the lines shown on Figure 2 attached. Close-boarded fences should be constructed in accordance with Figure 3 attached. Page 2 of 8

3 In relation to the northern boundary (roadfront along Patterson Street) and noise received at properties across Patterson Street, we recommend a minimum 1.6m high solid fence/barrier on this boundary as shown on Figure 1. This height is above the playground level, and may include any solid retaining in this area since there is a change in ground level in this area (playground is at a lower level than footpath). For example, if a 0.4m high retaining wall is built in this area then a 1.2m high solid fence can be constructed on top of this, so that the overall height of the barrier from the playground side is 1.6m. Elsewhere, facing into the subject site, we recommend minimum open pool type security fences, as shown on Figure 1. These fences may be reviewed during final design, as these are internal and part of the SHA development. 2.1 Vehicle movements Most children will arrive by cars and will be dropped off in the car park on the western side of the child care building. Noise from vehicles on public roads is exempt from complying with any noise limit but whilst on the subject site, noise from vehicle movements should comply with the City Plan noise limits. Vehicles are only slow-moving in the carpark and will not generate significant noise. The only issue is noise received at residential properties across Patterson Street to the east. There is a good separation distance to this land and we predict that noise from vehicle movements on the subject site will be less than 45 dba Leq at this land. As such there will be no issue in terms of noise from vehicle movements at the neighbouring residential land to the north. 2.2 Outdoor play area The outdoor play area is located on the eastern side of the subject site. In relation to the residential land across Patterson Street to the north, noise from children will be screened by the 1.6m high barrier on the northern boundary of the play area (roadfront). With this fence, and the extra distance to this land across Patterson Street, we predict that noise will be up to 45 dba Leq and comply with the 50 dba noise limit. In relation to the adjoining land to the east, and noise from children playing in the main outdoor play area on the eastern side of the childcare site, noise from this play area will comply with the 50 dba noise limit at/within the boundary of the neighbouring land. This includes the screening effect of the 2m high solid fence on the eastern boundary and also the effect of the acoustic shade fence (3.0m wide roof constructed off the top of the fence) which will screen the upper level of the building on the adjoining land. Page 3 of 8

4 2.3 Noise from Activities inside the Building With doors/windows of the building open, noise from inside the building is predicted to be less than 40 dba Leq within the adjoining residential properties to the east and safely comply with the 50 dba noise limit. Although not a Consent issue, we recommend that all indoor play areas include sound absorbing material such as carpet flooring and Autex Composition or similar to internal wall surfaces. Installation of a sound absorbing ceiling instead of a plasterboard ceiling is strongly recommended and ceiling tiles with a Noise Reduction Coefficient of at least NRC 0.7 should be considered. 3.0 Noise Assessment Café The café is located on the eastern side of the development next to Girven Road. The café would only operate during the daytime period (likely to be between 7am and 9pm) when the 50 dba Leq noise limit applies. The traffic report prepared for the development shows that traffic associated with the café will be negligible and any noise associated with this will safely comply with the 50 dba noise limit. The café may include a small outdoor seating area on the northern side, facing away from the residential land to the south, and screened by the café building. With small groups of people talking in this area, we predict that noise from this area will be up to 40dBA Leq during busy times at the adjoining land to the south (used for commercial activities) or across Girven Road. This will safely comply with the 50 dba noise limit and will be well below ambient noise levels from traffic on Girven Road. There will be some mechanical plant associated with the café but this is expected to be small, for example, a small chiller unit, toilet extract fans and an outdoor air conditioning unit. This plant could be located on the southern side of the café (service yard area) as long as there is a 2m high closeboarded solid fence on the boundary, to screen this plant, and that noise from any individual item does not exceed 50 dba at 3m distance. This aspect will be investigated in more detail during final design stage but we see no issue with mechanical plant and compliance with the relevant noise limits as long as plant is selected, located, or screened appropriately. On this basis, we see no issue in terms of noise received at the neighbouring residential properties to the south of the café or across Girven Road. The adjoining property to the south is used for commercial uses, and noise from other environmental noise sources during the day, especially traffic on Girven Road, will continue to dominate the noise environment in this area. Page 4 of 8

5 4.0 Conclusions We have carried out a noise assessment of the proposed child care centre and café within the SHA development on the corner of Girven Road and Patterson Street in Mount Maunganui. With the mitigation measures implemented, as set out in this report, we consider that noise from the development will comply with the Council s noise limits as specified in Rule 4E.2.1 of the City Plan and any noise effects will be negligible/less than minor. We trust this information is satisfactory. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Yours faithfully, Design Acoustics Ltd Tony Windner, Director Page 5 of 8

6 Figure 1: Site Plan showing noise control treatment

7 Figure 2: Acoustic shade fence Page 7 of 8

8 Figure 3: Close boarded fence Page 8 of 8