Swim instructor fighting to keep business following neighborhood noise complaints

SPRING, Texas – Brandi Watts is the only certified Infant Resource instructor in Spring. She said teaching young children how to save themselves from drowning, is her passion.

She started her business in her backyard pool in the Imperial Oaks neighborhood in March 2023. She said the Property Owners Association officially approved her business in July 2023.

In September 2023, she was notified from the POA about a neighbor filing a noise complaint regarding screaming children. The next month, Watts said she was served a cease-and-desist letter.

“It’s unfathomable to me,” Watts said. “I’m addressing the leading cause of death in children.”

The neighbor did not want to go on camera, but she sent KPRC 2 audio recordings of the children she hears from outside and inside her home. She said the noise is impacting her family’s quality of life.

“I actually at to put up these slats as you can see, because I felt like I couldn’t be in my backyard, and I was going to be videotaped,” Watts said.

Watts said she holds 10 minutes sessions with one student at a time. Averaging around 6 students an hour.

“My hours back in 2023 were from 9 to 10 and 3 to 6 p.m. I always operated during normal business hours,” she said.

Watts said the POA sent her a list of demands, saying she would need to get a glass enclosure to drown out the noise. That could cost her 6 figures.

She added that the POA told her the board is going to take a vote and decide if they are going to pursue a lawsuit against her. Watts has lawyered up and said she plans to fight any lawsuit she is faced with.

“You’re not going to stop me from saving lives,” she said.

The neighbor sent KPRC 2 the following statement:

It is not our intention as neighbors to shut anyone’s business down. However, our POA bylaws clearly state that it is not permitted to run a business of any kind in our backyard, especially due to the constant loud nature of this particular business. It is unfair to expect neighbors to listen to constant loud screaming from morning to evening every day, all year long so that they can elect to run a for profit company in their yard. Not only do we hear it in our yard, but it can be heard from our living room and bedrooms inside our house as well. I don’t expect them to shut down their company, but rather find a more appropriate commercial location, like so many other ISR companies do.

We knew nothing about the POA suing them, and quite frankly that’s none of our business. If they choose to ignore the bylaws, the POA is within their right to do so, though it’s not our preference. We just want to be able to live in our house and use our backyard without hearing constant screaming at all hours of the day.

KPRC 2 reached out to the POA, who said their board did not wish to comment on the issue.