Plans to curtail the racket caused by early morning construction won’t work for builders in Kelowna, B.C., according to another letter from a concerned industry lobby group.
The Central Okanagan branch of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association has added its concerns to those of several other organizations about proposed construction noise bylaw amendments introduced earlier this year.
The current bylaw limits construction noise to between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. seven days a week, including statutory holidays. City staff have recommended that hours be changed to 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends and no construction noise on statutory holidays.
The association said in its letter that it engaged more than 200 builders and developers and found these hours presented a common concern.
“Construction projects often operate on tight schedules with strict deadlines,” the organization said in its letter.
“Any interruption could result in costly delays. These delays have cascading effects, potentially impacting the completion date of the project, increasing costs, and causing inconvenience to future homeowners.”
A similar view has been shared by the Urban Development Institute.
They both believe that a delayed start on weekends and an outright ban on building during statutory holidays will hurt new construction projects in terms of larger costs and longer timelines.
In turn, they proposed that construction be limited to 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and stat holidays, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays, lest people want delayed project completions, increased project costs and more expensive homes for future residents of Kelowna.
“In other words, changes to the Good Neighbour bylaw not only pose economic risks, but also create social consequences at a time when residents are already struggling with their quality of life,” the letter reads.
“As one of the largest economic sectors in the Central Okanagan, we highly encourage council to consider the voices of these workers.”
Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas said council is trying to strike a balance between development needs and people’s quality of life.
“It is a little bit of a difficult position because as we start to densify more into neighbourhoods, it’s disrupting their day-to-day life and we need to be aware of that. We need to be responsible with those decisions that we’re making,” Dyas said in an interview last month.
“We will find a balance that strikes a balance and basically giving that peace and enjoyment that you have in your neighbourhood, but at the same time addressing the housing needs and the development that we have within the community.”
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