WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Polk County is the fastest-growing county in the country, and to keep up with the boom, a lot of construction needs to be done.
John Brown contacted ABC Action News because he said the loud beeping coming from a construction site all hours of the day is ruining his quality of life.
“It’s great that they are building houses for people, but don’t you have any concern for the people that are already living here?” said Brown.
Brown said he and his neighbors are being forced to live with loud back-up alarms coming from machines at the construction site across the street.
“I talked to the people over there, and they said, well, OSHA says we have to have backup alarms. I said, yes, of course you do. You have to have back-up alarms that you can hear over ambient noise, not 112-decibel alarms,” Brown said.
He said it happens eight hours a day, and he and his wife go to the park to escape the noise.
Crews are building a new affordable housing development in Winter Haven called Jersey Commons. Thursday, the construction site on Jersey Road was quiet, but Brown said that is usually not the case.
“These are earplugs. These are what I wear in my house, with my music and TV as loud as I can get it. Guess what I can hear? I can hear those backup alarms permeating my block house,” said Brown.
Jersey Commons broke ground last month. Another neighbor said the noise was loud during the project's initial phase, but she says the developers have been cooperative.
“I’m in the back bedroom and I could hear it in the morning because the walls kind of shook because they’re pounding the ground but other than that they’ve been pretty good,” said Christina Shahan.
Construction of Jersey Commons is expected to be completed by early 2025.
