Neighbors: Dust, noise 'oppressive' at Naperville concrete plant

Residents near a concrete plant in Naperville want the company to be a better neighbor - and a less loud and messy one, too.

Neighbors of the Ozinga concrete plant at 515 Spring Ave. say they're tired of the dust and noise from the facility that begins operating as early as 5:30 a.m. and continues past 5 p.m., disrupting their lives.

"It is oppressive to say the least," said Nina Betts, who lives at Spring Avenue and West Street, across from the facility. "It is bombarding us with noise and dust. It goes on from early morning until past 5 p.m. every day, sometimes Saturdays."

City officials say they'll reach out to Ozinga, the concrete company that began operating the plant around March, to push for noise reduction and more frequent street sweeping to clear the dust.

An Ozinga spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

"The dust is a big issue," neighbor Stuart Betts said. "When a storm comes through, you don't want to be around there."

But Bill Novack, the city's director of transportation, engineering and development, said the plant is operating within city zoning requirements.

Neighbors told the city council Tuesday night they thought the concrete factory might be on the way out when the previous operator, Meyer Material Co., largely stopped using it. Meyer opened the plant in the mid-1960s, when many nearby homes, such as Gerry and Leticia Engardio's house from 1915, already were standing.

A zoning update approved in 2007 changed the classification of the site from manufacturing to residential to match the character of the neighborhood. But Novack said the plant is allowed to remain as a manufacturing center as long as it does not cease operating for more than six months at a time.

While neighbors were encouraged when Meyer would go months without producing concrete near their homes, Novack said the company provided proof it was making batches at least once every six months.

"The nonconforming use can continue as long as it doesn't cease for a period greater than six months ... Nothing says it's dead upon transfer of operation to another owner," Novack said. "Yes, it is not pleasant, but there are no loopholes that they went through. It's following what's in the municipal code."

City council members said they were "very sympathetic" with neighbors who are dealing with rumbling trucks, loud deliveries and trucks spinning noisily to mix the concrete.

City code requires the facility to remain under a noise level of 80 decibels, but neighbors say measurements they've taken prove it frequently exceeds that limit.

Novack said city crews ran their own tests Tuesday morning and found readings both higher and lower than 80 decibels. The highest noise level, 83 decibels, came when trucks exited the plant building filled with cement stone aggregate and water to begin spinning the mixture into concrete, he said.

Residents asked for limits to Ozinga's hours of operation, but Novack said manufacturing operations are allowed to run 24/7. Any change to the hours would affect all properties zoned for manufacturing in the city, not just the Spring Avenue site.

For now, the city's best solution is to ask Ozinga to sweep nearby streets more frequently to clear dust and to plant tall trees to absorb some of the noise, Novack said.

"It's a mess with the trucks, and it's not a safe condition for this area," said Spring Avenue resident Gerry Engardio. "I sympathize with Ozinga, but it's not a good place to have this facility."