06/23/1975 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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owners, and she seemed willing to accept an extension to 10:00 p.m. if the work was being done by an owner living in his own home. She felt the ordinance as drafted was difficult to interpret. She que?tioned whether the term "loss of rest and peace" would be equated with profit losses of builders, or whether it would mean the health and rest of people in a neighborhood. Who would determine e what "loss" would mean, she asked, and to whom would the "loss" be more important. Ms. Lorwin suggested also that the restriction be changed to 7:00 p.m. as requested when the amendment was first suggested. She said the extra hour of continuous noise - to 8:00 p.m. _ was bad for neighbors but not fatal to the builders. John Boyer, speaking for Associated General Contractors, said that members of that organization did not engage in home construction and very rarely apartments, theirs was mostly industrial or commercial construction. And they normally didn't work after 5:00 p.m. because of added overtime costs. However, after hours work was sometimes necessary - arterial construction to avoid peak traffic hours; comm~rcial buildings at night when the general public is not in the building; during holiday periods, especially mill closures, to avoid laying workers off during a renovation project. In some emergency situations, he said, it was necessary to work around the clock to avoid higher costs and to provide safety precautions. He added that most people understood those problems and as a general rule were patient, recog- nizing that type of work was temporary. The contractors, he said, were looking at the proposed ordinance trying to determine how it would apply to the way they worked. He said they had just received a copy and had not the opportunity to compare its terms with ordinances in other cities, nor had they the opportunity to discuss it and prepare testimony for a June 23 hearing. He asked delay to try to work out suggestions that would lead to a solution for all concerned. Councilwoman Shirey referred to newly annexed areas where open land was being de- veloped with addition of sewers and utilities. In those instances, she said, several temporary construction projects, one after the other, could lead to summer . long noise. She had received complaints, she said, because of the publicity given this proposed amendment, and she thought something should be done. She noted that the ordinance as drafted didn't specify "owner" in allowing construction on single- family dwellings after 8:00 p.m. and she thought that should be specified. Councilwoman Beal saw no reason for that entire section to be included [4.084(4)]. She thought a home owner wanting to do building work after hours would probably ask permission of his neighbors, and most of the do-it-yourself work is done inside buildings anyway. Mrs. Beal moved seconded by Mrs. Shirey to consider striking section 4.084, Subsection (4) . Assistant Manager explained that language was in the proposed ordinance to provide some recourse to neighbors disturbed by do-it-yourself noise, at the same time pro- viding the home owner an opportunity to work after 8:00 p.m. if no complaints were received. Staff's concern was that without that language the provisions would be running counter to proposed housing rehabilitation programs where the city con- ceivably would be encouraging owners to do their own work. Mrs. Beal wondered why other cities surveyed didn't have that provision in their codes. She thought the do-it-yourselfers had plenty of daylight hours to accomplish that type of work, plus Saturdays and Sundays. Councilman Bradley thought it would be more prudent that the motion be brought to the Council at the time of public hearing on the ordinance to have the advantage of input from others. Vote was taken on the motion as stated. Motion defeated, Council- . woman Beal voting aye, all other Council members present voting no. With regard~to Councilwoman Shirey's suggestion to include the word "owner" in Section 4.084(4) specifying persons doing their own building work, Assistant Manager 6/23/75 - 22 '352