At the May 7 Council meeting, the following ordinance was passed by a 7-0 vote.
ORDINANCE NO. (O)08 - 09 AMENDING THE ORO VALLEY TOWN CODE CHAPTER 10, ARTICLE 6-6 BY ADDING 6-6-2 EXTENDED CONSTRUCTION HOUR WORK PERMIT; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY (Continued from April 2, 2008)
I can understand the rationale of passing this ordinance but question that part of the motion consisting of "declaring an emergency" in allowing a developer to start work in the middle of the night or late into the evening.
I would ask this: Inasmuch as the neighbors are to get a 48 hour advance notice of "off hours" work, by either a mailing or a "door hanger," by what means are residents to be notified when cement trucks are working a site at 2:00 AM if granted an "emergency?"
Listening in on the audio stream of the meeting, I could not determine the answer to this question. Might it have been an oversight in the motion?
13 comments:
Art...Once again you simply do not understand the process because you don't take the time to ask questions and become informed. The "emergency" declaration has to do with the implementation of the of the ordinance/resolution not the work being conducted at the individual work sites. In other words it can become effective immediately and not have a waiting period.
Thought you, and your readers, might like to know.
I understand that the passing of the motion included having it go into effect immediately and would ask, what is the emergency?
The fact remains that there were enough speakers from the building/development community that spoke on this issue, convincing the council that an emergency existed to pass this motion effective immediately.
The fact remains that cement trucks can still work on a site in close proximity to homes at 2:00 AM.
That is the issue that will concern the homeowners.
The emergency is simply that, if not declared, the ordinance would not go into effect until 90 days (I think it's 90, but may be 60)after the Mayor signs it. The preparers felt that would be too far into the summer months to be truly effective this year.
Thinker, so in other words this was passed with the emergency clause to give the developers a "pass" to start work early just in time for summer.
I don't think this would be a problem for construction projects that are not in close proximity to homes and neighborhoods.
Would you like to wake up in the middle of the nightto construction noise if you had to get up to go to work. Not me
I sort of suspect that this was passed to give Vestar more leniency to work at night.
If not then the ordinance could have been passed and gone thru the usual procedure and not effective immediately.
Just a thought.
Maybe I can help to clarify the effect of passage of the ordinance with an emergency clause. Under section 2-5-6 of the Oro Valley Town Code, an ordinance is not effective until 30 days after its passage, except for emergency measures. Emergency ordinances are immediately effective if passed with an emergency clause and if approved by a 3/4ths vote of the Council. That was the case with this item.
However, the passage of the item with the emergency clause means only that the substantive provisions of the ordinance become immediately effective. This ordinance modified the construction portions of section 10-1-4 of the Town Code (commonly referred to as the noise ordinance) and put into place a new section of the Town Code, section 6-6-2, which contains a mechanism for application and possible issuance of extended construction hours work permits only upon certain specified conditions that must be found to exist, and only following the notice requirements specified in the ordinance in advance of the work being performed. Thus, while the permit-issuing procedure is in place immediately, any permits for off-hours work must be issued strictly according to that procedure. Any permit will have to include the requisite advance notice to the surrounding residential areas (through first class mail or door hangers)which notice must occur at least 48 hours before any off-hours work may take place.
I hope this clears things up.
Thank You Mr. Rosen.
Yes , your explanation does help.
So in a nutshell, this change makes it a more formal process that needs to be followed to get permission for an early work permit. Previously it was the PD who gave permission, now it will be town staff.
Whew, I think i get it.
Are there different provisions for early start times on the weekend? A few weeks ago, we were awakened at 6 AM on a SUNDAY morning from work that was being done at a nearby intersection.
They were unloading a bunch of jersey barriers and we were treated to "boom-boom" each time they dropped one to the ground. This went on for about an hour and a half and then everyone disappeared.
So why couldn't they have arrived at 9 AM and worked until 10:30 AM? Why the 6 AM start time for THIS type of work?
To answer Victorian Cowgirl's question, the noise ordinance does not differentiate between work done during the week or on weekends. A 6 a.m. start time would comply with the strict letter of the ordinance, even on a Sunday. Also, note that the installation of Jersey barriers on a public roadway would fall within the governmental activities exemption to the noise ordinance if a public entity performed the work as part of a traffic safety program or other road construction project. So that type of work could occur at any time.
Mr. Rosen,
Thanks for the information you provided. I do, however, think that the law should be applied differently on the weekend. I can think of no legitimate reason for those barriers to have been installed at 6 AM on a Sunday. Can you tell me who would be the best person I could discuss this with at the Town Hall? Thank you.
Emergency - definition
"An UNFORSEEN combination of circumstances or the the resulting state that calls for immediate action"
"An urgent NEED for assistance or relief"
Can someone please explain how
these definitions (Merriam-Webster)
can possibly apply to any event, other than some unforseeable drastic happening, that
would allow for their utility? Applications, waiting periods, permits, etc. most certainly do not appear to be even remotely suggestive of being supportive of an 'emergency event' criteria, thus the whole reasoning for the passage of this measure becomes suspect. Tobin?
When everybody else is satisfied with the explanation, leave it to Zev to not understand. Somehow it reminds me of the guy fighting the windmill.
The term "emergency" was so designated by the State Legislature to define the circumstances under which a governing body may effect legislartion immediately. There are many words in the standard dictionary that may take on another additional meaning in legal settings or legislative settings.
COX
Your obsessive megalomaniacal references to me are dyslexic nonsense; let others deal with my questions.
Zev -
I know I am not Tobin, but I cut and paste really well (see below). I am afraid that OVOT is correct in that the legislature takes a different stint on the definition of "emergency" when it comes to legislation. In this case, I believe the ordinance stated due to the pending climate chage and increase in building, the measure was necessary to preserve the peace.
19-142(B). A city or town ordinance, resolution or franchise shall not become operative until thirty days after its passage by the council and approval by the mayor, unless it is passed over the mayor's veto, and then it shall not become operative until thirty days after final approval and until certification by the clerk of the city or town of the minutes of the meeting at which the action was taken, except emergency measures necessary for the immediate preservation of the peace, health or safety of the city or town. An emergency measure shall not become immediately operative unless it states in a separate section the reason why it is necessary that it should become immediately operative, and unless it is approved by the affirmative vote of three-fourths of all the members elected to the city or town council, taken by ayes and noes, and also approved by the mayor.
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