Marie Hinojosa, a resident of the Montage community next to Las Positas College, uses the website Nextdoor to complain that she cannot enjoy her balcony on the weekends due to noise and fumes from motorcycle classes being held in the college parking lots.
Noise and fumes from motorcycles affect the peace and livability of some neighbors of LPC that live close to parking lot B, according to Hinojosa.
Pacific Motorcycle Training, the company that conducts motorcycle riding classes on the weekend, rents space in Las Positas parking lots for the training. The parking lot has been used for motorcycle training since 2015, according to the college.. The Montage community has homes that face parking lots B,C,D,E, with parking lot B is currently used for training.
Previously, the classes were about one weekend a month but lately have expanded to almost every weekend. The classes start at 7 a.m. on the weekends, which is when many residents say they want to sleep in but cannot due to the noise.
Anette Raichbart, Vice President of Administrative Services at LPC, worked with community members and Pacific Motorcycle Training to lessen the impact. LPC administrators explored moving the training to other locations on campus, but after investigation found that other parking lots do not meet the requirements because parking lots away from the homes have too much slope to conduct the training.
Cathay Smuda, a Montage resident, said, “When we purchased this development, the motorcycle class did not exist at the college. It wasn’t an issue. We were not awoken every weekend at 7 a.m. from either yelling instructors or motorcycles revving their engines.”
Pacific Motorcycle training has also made some changes to lessen the impact. Training has been moved to a start time of 8 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m., and instructors have been cautioned to minimize shouting. Classes have been informed that the parking lot is only available for the class, not for practice before or after class. The training has also been moved to the east side of parking lot B as the homes nearby do not face the parking lot.
Raichbart, said LPC has made changes to accommodate the neighbors’ concerns.
This article has been updated to include recent information and to correct the spelling of Raichbart’s name.
Alan Lewis, the author of this story, is a resident of Montage.
Alan Lewis is the photo editor of The Express. Follow him @alolewis1.
