My neighbor called the police on me for noise pollution

if he does, you have a crybaby- then you need to confront him and tell him you ain't going anywhere ;)
 
Don't lose one minute of sleep over someone like that. Nothing will make him happy. I have lots of experience with this.
We have a retired couple who's backyard abuts our backyard. They have made official complaints to the town about everyone that can be seen from their backyard or front yard. I am the favorite target though. I have 2 boats, a tractor w/ a loader bucket, always a couple stacks of summer or winter tires, a dump trailer with a small hydraulic crane attached. My wife was running a vacation camp for dogs. Holiday weekends could get kind of crazy with we'll just say several dogs here. Anyway, we were advised by the town that we could have no more than 4 dogs here at any time without having a kennel license, and we have 2 dogs of our own, so she had to cut way back on the dog watching and get a part time job.
I always wanted chickens and she has had them in a past life (Australia), and we live in a right to farm community, with town bylaws written specifically for raising poultry. So.....now we have 18 chickens, 22 ducks, at the moment 1 rooster (we have had as many a 4 of those adorable little bastards), and I was recently told we will have a goose in a few weeks. I dug a 20' × 25' ×3 1/2' deep pond for the ducks. They tried to prevent me from doing this as well. There's more , you get the idea. I bet they miss the dogs.
 
Just go about your business as normal. If he really thinks it's a problem then he can call the police, when he has done so too many times they will put a stop to it. Your hobby is your own business, if you are in your garage during the day operating a lathe then it's very unlikely you are creating a nuisance, sound or otherwise. As a professional sound engineer I have dealt with noise complaints many times but never for something like what you are doing.

Most cops hate these types of calls but they have to respond, it's their job. Next time they show up hopefully you will be there, shut down your machines and music and offer them a bottle of ice cold water. If possible offer them a seat in the shade and make sure to thank them for all they do to keep your neighborhood safe. Chances are very good they will head across the street and tell your neighbor to cool it. Don't bother to do this yourself since you don't know what might happen if he is unstable, just let his actions play out to their logical conclusion. You never know, one of the cops might even be interested in what you're doing and join us here ;)

John
 
I had a neighbor like that. I checked the bylaws and borrowed a genuine decibel meter.
Went to the front of their driveway and checked the levels. Not even close to being above the limit.
So I took a picture of the reading along with the date and time, my stereo volume setting and kept them for the next complaint.
That time came, the gendarmerie showed up, I showed them the pictures, showed them the current stereo setting. We chatted about whatever I was building and they went away happy.
I never heard from the neighbor again.


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One time, a neighbor reported on me, and my county said I parked a commercial vehicle in my own property and sent me 4 letters bringing me to court. I was lucked out to be able to speak to the attorney that was supposed to be the one prosecuted me. I explain all the things and he said I didn't violate rule and it is not a commercial vehicle.

After that, I called the county person who was harrassining me asking for a letter withdraw the charge. They said they don't do that (but sent me 4 letters getting me to court?). They can send me an email only. In the email, they said I have remedied the violation (seriously?).

This is just one story of many. These days, neighbors don't cover your back, they are like enemy. I still don't know which neighbor(s) keep calling on me.
 
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Malicious compliance is certainly a thing. I think I'd go with bagpipe music—i think the reason the Scots were historically fearsome warriors was that retreat meant getting closer to the pipers .

Seriously, though, maybe try shooting the breeze with the guy if he's ever outside? Escalation generally just makes things worse.

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I used to have a neighbor like that: he initiated some sort of conflict with every neighbor that lived around him.
He finally went too far and harrassed my next door neighbor's kids, which resulted in a visit from the police.

Just ignore the guy: he'll poison his own well eventually.
 
Nogoingback said:
I used to have a neighbor like that: he initiated some sort of conflict with every neighbor that lived around him.
He finally went too far and harrassed my next door neighbor's kids, which resulted in a visit from the police.

Just ignore the guy: he'll poison his own well eventually.
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Don't get me started on crazy neighbors! We live in paradise but had the most insane neighbor imaginable. I mean that, certifiable. Thing I learned with her is do not engage. She was a sonic terrorist with a music at concert levels so she could listen to it while she mowed the lawn, with a gas mower! She had a Jack Russel terrier she would let out at 1am and it would chase the local critters barking the whole time then came back to her door and bark, and bark and she wouldn't let it in. This would go on till 5am and our bedroom window is right there. My wife tried talking to her and she got worse.

Her favorite thing after that was to blast Kid Rock at 5am for about 5min then shut down and run out and jump in her car and go to work. We painted our house and she decided to paint her house and the more she did the worse it looked. I head the noise of a airless sprayer and the smell of paint starting about 1am and it didn't stop till about 4:30am. We have a grape stake fence on her side and my trash cans are up against it. It was trash day and as I hadn't been able to sleep I went out to set out the trash and noticed this red ropy goo on my cans and realized it was the paint she was spewing going through the grape stake fence...and my truck was right there. I had just realized all this and turned to see that ropy goo all over the hood and grill of my truck when LMS (Little Miss Sunshine) walked through her gate on the way to her car. I said you got paint all over my cans and my truck! She looked at me and brightly said "I'm going to Home Depot!" and got in her car and hauleda$$. I was so stunned she was down the block before I could react. My last semi reaction was when she decided to do her usual Sunday afternoon concert series I decided my chainsaw needed to be tuned up and run, until the concert ended.

There's way more but when she finally ****** the other neighbors off she's been on the run staying elsewhere and no more escalation from her or us. She more than once called the cops and yeah the cops and Highway Patrol have her MO now and life is quiet.
 
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