The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Getting the last 5 decibels taken care of….
[ By Mark Reaman ]
Talk about getting your wires crossed. Crossed wires were literally the apparent cause of a major noise issue that had neighbors of the Slogar restaurant complaining about a new exhaust fan installed last spring. Ever since the new exhaust fan was up and operating, neighbors complained it was too loud and town staff confirmed the noise was louder than permitted by the town code.
According to Crested Butte community development director Troy Russ, the town and the owners of the building split a $3,500 noise consultant fee this fall after neighbors took their complaint to the town council, and it was money well spent. The consultant discovered that the fan was wired incorrectly, causing the fan to operate in reverse. That error increased the noise output that put the neighbors on edge.
The fan was rewired, and immediately the noise dropped considerably as confirmed by nearby residents.
“The fix lowered the decibels from 70+ to 55,” explained Russ this week. “The fan still needs to be lowered to 50 db to meet the zone district requirements after 10 p.m. The sound consultant recommended a bigger fan be installed in the unit to get it down to 50 db. The owner is being required to install the bigger fan.”
Slogar restaurant owner Ayla Scott indicated the restaurant crew is just happy the wiring problem was discovered and addressed, saying that there’s not much to say about the issue other than that they are “happy it is finally fixed, and everyone can move on.”
We also reached out via email to the owners of the building who chose to not comment further on the situation.
