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Photograph by Chad Pilster
Big Mack Attack: Residents of Sam Cava Lane finally brought their complaints about Haig Manufacturing to the City Council.
Days of Thunder
Neighbors complain that area machine shop gives off bad vibrations
By Genevieve Roja
Instead of getting some rest and relaxation during the summer months, John Bridgetts has been quietly playing detective.
On this particular day, he's snapping pictures of trucks illegally parked in his driveway and of forklifts traveling up and down the street in front of his residence at 472 Sam Cava Lane.
"I called DMV and they said it's illegal for a forklift to be driving back and forth like that," Bridgetts says.
Bridgetts' reluctant hobby shows no sign of abating, since on Tuesday the Campbell City Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution under 21 different conditions. The resolution allows Haig Precision Manufacturing to operate a machine shop at 186 Dillon Ave. with a 16-foot-tall exterior nitrogen tank, and approves a second floor office and storage in another machine shop Haig owns at 186 Gilman Ave.
With the newly approved plan, the two existing buildings at 186 Dillon and 186 Gilman will have an adjoining back parking lot. Delivery trucks can enter the premises on Gilman or enter through Dillon by backing into the rear driveway, thus eliminating congestion on Sam Cava. The Dillon/Gilman site will undergo exterior remodeling identical to the 426 Sam Cava building, which will give Haig an "industrial campus" look.
City Council also asked the applicant to restrict its delivery hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; established a 70 decibel L1 level of noise, and ordered motors to be shut off during deliveries. Haig can only have a maximum of 55 employees present at one time on both the 186 Dillon and 186 Gilman properties. Bridgetts was not impressed with the decision.
"I'm losing faith in our government," says Bridgetts, who moved here from England in 1976 and is considering relocating to an apartment in San Jose. "It's gotten to the point where nothing matters except money. It seems like they [city hall] want to turn Campbell into Los Gatos overnight."
It's only recently that residents on Sam Cava Lane have complained to the city about Haig, a precision machine manufacturer of parts and sheet metal. Garland Woodhouse, a Sam Cava resident who spoke at last Tuesday's meeting and at the July 27 Planning Commission meeting, said it's not the noise that bothers him and his girlfriend, but the vibrations that come from the manufacturing machines.
"I've tried to talk to people in Haig, but they just put it off," says Woodhouse, who lives in a house adjacent to the Haig property on Gilman. "Haig has absolutely no pity. It's pounding, pounding, pounding. All we want is to live there in peace and quiet."
Delivery trucks rumble in and out on Sam Cava Lane as early as 7 a.m. to as late as 11 p.m. Sometimes, Bridgetts says, he hears them arrive as early as 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays, with engines revving. According to Haig president Dan Sarkisian, the plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He also says that "roughly 10 percent" of those trucks belong to Haig; the others come from companies in the surrounding area.
In response to the noise complaints, Haig Precision hired Jeff Pack, an acoustical engineer in Los Gatos, who tested the decibel levels of the plant and found an average figure of 59 decibels on a 24-hour clock. The city has mandated Haig to install a 7-foot-high noise barrier of cement or airtight plywood, that would run along the back property line of Haig Precision, Bill Perry's residential property next door, and up to Balloonatics on Dillon Avenue. Pack and Haig must submit a report to the city regarding building and operational conditions and verify they have tested the machinery at the two locations.
In the midst of all of this are some hotly contested parking spaces. Residents claim that Haig employees are taking precious parking space, with big rigs parking in front of residential homes, even blocking driveways. To secure a parking spot, Bridgetts and his neighbors put out bright orange cones to mark their territory. They say many of the truck drivers react rudely when asked to turn off running engines or to move vehicles.
Even when Bridgetts tries to contact police, he says nothing is done. But Campbell Police Chief Dave Gullo argues that by the time someone from the department arrives on the scene, the problem is gone.
"We can go out there and give out traffic citations, but what does that solve?" Gullo says. "It doesn't solve the problem of Haig's overall use out there. Haig is very cooperative as far as we're concerned; it's a very vibrant business."
Gullo says that Sam Cava residents also live in a light industrial area, where big trucks and noise are to be expected.
"It's an ongoing function of their [Haig's] business," Gullo said. "They're not doing it deliberately."
Sarkisian told The Campbell Reporter that the average day shift has a total of 55 employees, the swing shift has 25, and the graveyard 20 for a grand total of 100 employees in a 24-hour period. Once the two lots are joined, Haig employees can certainly find parking among the estimated 97 spaces. The building at 426 Sam Cava currently has seven parking spaces and one handicapped space. To make sure the shifts do not overlap, Sarkisian will stagger the times of each shift, so there is at least a 15-minute gap.
According to the resolution, delivery vehicles to the Gilman and Dillon buildings will not be permitted to load or unload on public property, including the sidewalks and streets. All drivers will enter on Gilman and all business associated with Haig, such as lunch trucks and parcel deliveries are instructed not to block the main driveway.
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Campbell, California
