Kelowna city council bent to the wishes of the development industry when it came to making changes to the city’s construction noise bylaw.
The move was a departure from what staff originally proposed eight weeks ago and a softening of the new recommendation put before council Monday.
The present bylaw allows construction to take place within the city from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily including statutory holidays.
The original recommendation left weekday hours the same but modified weekend hours to 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with no work allowed on stat holiday.
However, after pushback from the construction industry, staff came back with a new recommendation while also including the industry proposal as a third option (Option C) for council to consider.
Staff suggested no change in hours on weekdays but a softening of hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
The industry suggested no change on weekdays, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and holidays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Council went with the industry recommendation.
Coun. Luke Stack said he became convinced this is the right way to go after hearing from the construction industry.
“This is a win in the sense that we are reviewing these policies but it does not disrupt our construction industry so much so that they cannot get the job done,” said Stack.
In voting for the industry option, Coun. Mohini Singh also reminded her colleagues builders could apply for a variance to get to Option C anyway.
“That will only cost time and money so we might as well go to Option C,” she said.
“Personally I would have gone to 7 a.m. on both days just for ease of administration,” added Coun. Loyal Wooldridge.
“I think most parents are concerned with getting their kids to bed earlier than wishing they would be asleep at 7 a.m. At the end of the day this is a change that is giving some folks some reprieve.”
With temperatures reaching 30C during the daytime this week, some construction sites have been granted variances to begin work an hour earlier at 6 a.m.
The new bylaw will come into effect once staff have crafted the language and presented it to council for adoption.
