RI Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Vanessa Carlton, John McCauley’s “Maddening” Noise Complaint

RI Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Vanessa Carlton, John McCauley’s “Maddening” Noise Complaint

The Rhode Island Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with singer Vanessa Carlton and John McCauley of Deer Tick, in a longstanding Warwick noise dispute.

In 2024, Carlton and McCauley took the property owners next door to them to court in 2024, alleging the sound level coming from the Post Road business was a nuisance.

According to the opinion rendered by Supreme Court Justice William Robinson, “Ms. Carlton stated that she and her husband are ‘both musicians,’ and that she believed that they had found a ‘forever spot’ in their Pawtuxet Village home. She testified that, when she and her family moved into [their] Post Road property [in 2021] they encountered no disruptive noises other than the noise emanating from moderate vehicle traffic on Post Road and intermittent airplane noise.”

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Cartlon, best known for her hit “A Thousand Miles” and starring on Broadway, and McCauley - a Providence native - said that things changed in 2024 when a crane company - North American Crane & Rigging - moved in next door.

“Maddening” Noise

“It was Ms. Carlton’s testimony that the result was ‘like the construction facility took over our property.’ She further stated: ‘I could not be on the property when the work was going on because I tried for about a week and then I just couldn’t be outside or be inside with the windows closed, so I was frantically trying to figure out what happened,” Robinson continued. “Ms. Carlton testified that, in attempting to deal with the noise issue on her own, she took steps like planting arborvitaes and having a privacy fence installed between her property line and ‘the fabrication field’—all to no avail.”

“They describe their feelings as  ‘maddening,’ ‘depressing,’ and ‘hell’ in explaining their state of mind in dealing with their situation,” wrote Robinson.

The couple filed the lawsuit in October 2024; an injunction was issued by Superior Court for the company to “cease and desist all operations wherein noise levels unreasonably interfere with Plaintiff’s and or/their minor child’s enjoyment of the property.”

The defendants filed an appeal saying they were not in violation of city noise ordinance.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court upheld the Superior Court decision and denied the appeal.