Mundy Twp. lacks standing to complain about plant's noise -- judge

MUNDY TWP. - The township's legal fight to stop round-the-clock noise from an automotive parts packaging firm took a major hit in court Monday.

Genesee Circuit Judge Archie L. Hayman denied a request for temporary relief from revving engines and radio music blasting at Ai-Flint, saying the township doesn't have legal standing to complain about outsiders violating its noise ordinances.

The judge said he sympathized with Mundy Township residents who live on Maple Avenue across from the plant, but noted that Ai-Flint is located in Flint Township and controlled by the city of Flint under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement.

"I'd hate to live there on a daily basis," Hayman said, "but (Mundy Township) residents don't have standing to complain about what Flint and Flint Township are doing. I don't have the authority to issue an injunction."

He advised township officials to "put pressure" on their counterparts in Flint and Flint Township to enforce their noise ordinances.

They've already tried, said Liz Sanders, member of a homeowners association that has pressed for years for relief from what residents say is nonstop noise from trucks running three shifts at Ai-Flint, in the Flint-Flint Township Business Center near Bishop Airport.

"I'm so tired of everybody telling me where (else) I should go," she said after the court hearing, which she attended along with two other Maple residents and Mundy Township Supervisor Karen Bond. "We've done everything we've been told to do."

Township Attorney Jack Belzer asked Hayman to order Android Industries, Ai-Flint's parent company, and 4500 Matthew Drive LLC, owner of the plant building, to take temporary steps to abate noise while the township's lawsuit, filed in March, is decided.

"We're trying to secure some measure of tranquility so that when they go to bed at night, they can sleep," Belzer said.

William Reising, a Flint attorney representing defendants Android and 4500 Matthew Drive, accused Mundy Township of trying to put Ai-Flint out of business.

"They are seeking an injunction to cause my clients to cease operations," he said, a move that would "put several hundred people out of work at this plant, work that is critical to the truck assembly of (General Motors)."

Ai-Flint employs 300 people and plans to add 75 more at a new, larger facility it's slated to open this summer in the same business center.

Belzer said residents' peace and quiet could be restored to a degree "immediately, without altering the physical terrain" or stopping operations, through rules to minimize noise from the plant.

Reising described Ai-Flint as a good neighbor that has never been cited for local noise ordinance violations.

Hayman's decision throws into question the viability of the rest of the suit, which seeks money damages from defendants that include the city of Flint, the Flint Planning Commission and the Airport Airpark Developmental Advisory Council.

"The ruling is supported by law," Belzer said after the hearing, "but we're pushing forward."

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