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A Kelowna city councillor will be asking his council colleagues to review the city’s bylaws around construction noise restrictions.

As part of the request, Rick Webber will be tabling a motion at a meeting next week to ask for city hall staff to review of noise restriction bylaws in other communities and come up with recommendations for changes to Kelowna’s current rules around construction noise.

The city’s current bylaws state that construction is not permitted to take place before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m.

However, construction companies can apply for permission to vary these time restrictions on public spaces or streets, and on property outside of a public area.

If the city receives such an application at least five days before work is scheduled to begin, they can vary the times of construction.

However, it must be proven that public safety or traffic considerations make the changes necessary, or that it is impossible or impractical to carry out certain work within the time restrictions like excavation, concrete pouring or relocation of a building.

Les Bellamy, owner of Bellamy Homes, shared his disapproval of the motion on Facebook.

“I challenge you to get on a construction site at 3pm on a 35 degree day in August and pack some lumber for an hour,” Bellamy wrote. “I trust you will last 15 minutes with a hard hat and boots on. If you are going to review hours, it better be to allow work to start at 6am so workers can go home earlier on hot afternoons.”

But Webber wants these policies to change. Namely for the sake of neighbours who have to deal with ongoing noise disturbances throughout the year.

“Learning to live with nearby construction has become a fact of life for hundreds of city residents,” Webber said in the motion. “In fact, due to Kelowna’s rapid growth and our billion dollars-plus construction industry located within a small land base, Kelowna residents may be more likely than other Canadians to find themselves living near a construction project.”

Webber said many projects can last up to three years, making it difficult for neighbours to cope with the noise.

“This motion’s intent is to discover whether any changes can be made to ease that impact while maintaining our momentum to provide more housing and at the same time supporting and protecting our thousands of construction workers. Some other development-heavy cities in BC allow fewer hours of construction each day plus no construction work on Sundays and statutory holidays,” the councillor said.

The motion is part of the Kelowna council agenda for a meeting taking place on Monday, Feb 12.

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