Dear City Council,
I recently purchased a home in Felton Gables. Before making my purchase, I researched the city noise ordinances at https://www.codepublishing.com/CA/MenloPark/html/MenloPark08/MenloPark0806.html which states the daytime limit from a residence is 60dbA, and the nighttime limit is even lower. This was encouraging.
I also read the Caltrain Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project Noise and Vibration Technical Report, which is dated 2014. It documents that the measurements of noise due to Caltrain in Menlo Park at 100 feet from the tracks had a day-night average (Ldn) of 70dB. This is higher than the FAA's maximum for residential communities by 5dB, which should have been a red flag. But I did not realize that the 70dB was only an average, not a maximum. After I committed to purchasing the home, I discovered that 70dB is nowhere near the maximum.
After spending some time in the home I was shocked at how loud the train horns could be. The horn noise appears to depend on the train or the driver, because it was only after I spent the night in my new home that I discovered how bad this could be.
I hired a professional acoustics firm, Sutter Inc of San Francisco, to help me solve this problem. They used calibrated meters and formal procedures to measure and document the noise on my property from all sources. They found that ambient noise was approximately 45dbA, but train noise averaged 105dbA. That is not the maximum, that is the average! They found the maximum to be 109dbA with only one day of measurement.
I have since repeated their methodology over a longer period, and I have documented maximum noise level from caltrain of 120dbA.
This is dangerous territory. Subjecting my family to this noise is out of the question. We will not move into our new home until we resolve this problem. But selling the home is also very difficult, especially now that I know that the noise pollution has dangerous levels, I could be liable for the hearing damage of whomever I sell it to! What have I got myself into? Will the City of Menlo Park be able to help me solve this?
I have been looking into construction methods to replace the home with something more noise-proof. I have learned about the STC (sound transmission class) of materials and construction methods. One thing I've learned is that it doesn't much matter what you build your house with, if you have windows they will be the weak point. And windows generally have an STC under 30.
Even if I replaced my walls with concrete and replaced my windows with the most expensive ones available (neither of which I can afford), the best STC I can hope for is about 35. That means that Caltrain noise of 120dB will be reduced to about 85dB. That's 85dB inside my house! It is unhealthy at any price.
I hope that you can support the effort to reduce the noise from Caltrain in Menlo Park. I will certainly be adding my voice.
Best regards,
David Wuertele
454 Felton Dr.
Menlo Park
