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Intelligencer Journal

As Josie Ditzler sat on her back deck on a Labor Day weekend afternoon, the loudest sounds were the crickets in the woods and the motor of a distant lawnmower.

It hasn't always been that way - and Ditzler and others in her West Hempfield Township neighborhood, who live within earshot of the big QVC complex, hope it's a sign of things to come.

Officials from QVC, the television retail giant, are planning another meeting with neighboring residents to discuss concerns relating to noise coming from the company's loading docks.

Ditzler and other residents have been complaining about the sounds of loading and unloading merchandise, vehicles and other noises they don't want in their residential area.

But QVC officials, who met last month with some 40 of the residents and plan to do so again Tuesday, Sept. 14, emphasize they're listening, have taken steps to lessen the noise, and want to work out a solution.

Ditzler said she felt "very encouraged" when she went to the meeting with QVC in August at the Comfort Inn on Centerville Road.

Until recently, Ditzler and her husband, Brad, who have lived at 968 Boyce Ave. for five years, had been wondering whether they'd have to move.

"Sometimes it's felt like we lived in a war zone," she said Saturday, as her three dogs scampered on her back deck and she pointed through the thick tree line to the now-quiet QVC docks.

The problems have stemmed from the loading docks of the QVC facility, which point toward the neighbors' homes in what Ditzler calls a "shortsighted building design."

QVC operates the largest industrial facility in the township and is wrapping up a $45 million expansion project there.

Ditzler says her family's home is less than the length of a football field from the truck area.

"The angle of the walls, coupled with the buildings' metal siding, allows the noise to echo, amplify and reverberate throughout the neighborhood," she said in a recent letter to the New Era.

QVC had installed a fence eight years ago to lessen the noise. Ditzler recently suggested another barrier, a wall that would reduce the noise by 20 decibels. That may not sound like a lot, but "20 decibels is better than nothing," she said.

"Five years ago it was tolerable, but now that they've expanded, the activity has increased," she said.

And when 18 new docks go in next spring, that will give QVC a total of 61 docks at its facility.

West Hempfield officials, who had arranged the first meeting between the company and the neighbors, plan to give an update on the issue at tonight's township supervisors meeting.

Officials and residents on hand will hear of the steps QVC has taken to be a good neighbor. They include closing the dock doors, changing the truck staging areas and reducing the sound of the backup alarms on the vehicles.

Ditzler says she isn't the only one in her family to hear the noise. Her 18-year-old daughter, Brittany, who graduated in June from Hempfield High School, told her guidance counselor last year that her sleep was being interrupted because of the overnight noise.

The residents on Boyce, along with adjoining Duff and Coronet avenues, decided to form a group to tackle the problem after individual complaints only resulted in a two- or three-day respite from the worst of the noise, according to Ditzler.

Last month's turnout at the Comfort Inn was pretty strong, considering that the three avenues in the triangle-shaped neighborhood have a total of 48 homes, Ditzler said.

She also credits officials at QVC's main office, in West Chester, for taking action and meeting with her and the other neighbors when they became aware of the problem. Top QVC officials couldn't be reached this morning for comment on the matter.