Sports teams playing day and night have been taking a toll on those who live near the FIFA-grade field at St. Patrick’s Catholic Secondary School.Just south of the new turf surface is a 15-foot wide lane that abuts a row of townhouses where Benjamin and Christine Stein have lived since 2005.Like several neighbours, Ben and Christine, who has fibromyalgia, a chronic disease that causes pain and fatigue, say they’ve been negatively affected by noise and other disturbances from the field, which was refurbished and reopened in November 2017.“All of a sudden there were three teams on the field in one night, screaming their heads off. … Our bedtimes are now effectively dictated by the hours of play on the field. There was trespassing, property damage and people drinking in the parking lot. It was crazy,” Benjamin said.“Last summer we couldn’t open up our windows (because of the noise). We ran our air conditioning all summer,” added Christine.The conflict has now landed in court.Read more: No fence-sitting in this neighbourhood soccer field debate in the DanforthIs this the noisiest neighbourhood in Toronto?A noisy neighbour, a parking ticket fight and a mysterious home addition: Ombudsman reports on how to battle city hallA noise complaint against 49 Felstead Ave. was heard before court on May 6. The defendant, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, did not enter a plea. The next court date is set for June 3.Toronto’s Municipal Licensing and Standards is aware of the situation and invited eight local families, including the Steins, to keep sound logs. “I’m hoping everybody has had a wake-up call and they’ll try to work more co-operatively with their neighbours. I think all public institutions need to be good neighbours,” said local Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth), who did a site visit one evening and experienced first-hand some of the concerns neighbours were expres ...
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