In Tyndall Park, homeowners fume over a gas station

Poplynn Driveresident Scott Gledhill says he can play a backyard game of cribbage with his neighboursinto the wee hours, butnot because of moonlight.

A 24-hour gas station serving long-distance trucks opened up metres from his propertyin July, flooding his yard with not just light all night, but also diesel fumes and the sound of 18-wheelers backing up to the oversized wooden fence that separateshis Tyndall Parkresidential neighbourhoodfrom the new commercial developmentalong Oak Point Highway.

"Throughout the evenings,we get woken up by the sounds of the backup beepers of the trucks. We've had instances of trucks having their tires repaired at one o'clock in the morning. You can hear the impact gun and the hammers," saidGledhill, whose family of four moved into their home on Poplynn Drive in 2014.

"It's just a constant barrage of trucks. You hear the trucks running. You hear the trucks idling. You smell the diesel exhaust in the back yard."

Land-use regulations typically ensure there's a buffer between residential neighbourhoods and commercial strips or industrial areas. But the Oak Point Highwayland where the new Essocardlock arosethis summer was zoned to allowbusinesses that cater to transport trucks.

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John Kiernan, Winnipeg's planning, property and development director, said no public hearing was required before the city approved thenew 24-hour Essocardlock station.

But after Gledhill and several of his PoplynnDrive neighbours camebefore council's property committee on Tuesday morning to complain about light, noise and olfactory pollution, Kiernan said it's clear the city has to approach the gas station's owner, Mississauga-basedBVD Petroleum.

"They have done nothing wrong, according to land use. (But) there is an impact on adjacent neighbours, so we have to see how we can mitigate and maybe work with the property owner," Kiernan said during a break in the property committee meeting.

That work will involve enforcement of thecity's neighbourhood liveability bylaw. The city may also look into new regulations to separate cardlocks from residential neighbourhoods in the future.

BVD Petroleum vice-president Charles Stuart said he wasn't aware of the scope of the complaints and said he wants to ensure all of his company's 15 cardlocks are good neighbours.

Stuart said while modern trucks do not need to run their engines when they're parked, he's more than happy to post signs asking no one to idle overnight. He also said he's going to look into some means of preventing overhead lights from flooding residential yards.

In the mean time, Gledhill said he's started taking down the license plate numbers of truckers who make excessive noise at night. He said he'd like the city to buy him out if no means can be found to address the noise, light and smell of trucks.