Santa Rosa to stop enforcing noise complaints in fire rebuilding areas

Santa Rosa residents who have moved back into rebuilt homes in neighborhoods ravaged by the October 2017 fires might want to stock up on earplugs and forget about buying new alarm clocks before the summer construction seasons swings into high gear.

New city rules adopted by the City Council on Tuesday mean staff will not enforce noise limits that would otherwise govern work on more than 1,000 rebuilding projects in Coffey Park and Fountaingrove, as well as any new construction in burned-out neighborhoods.

The new rules, which took effect immediately, will allow contractors to fire up generators, pour concrete, back up trucks and carry out other loud construction activities between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday without fear of a noise violation. Work could start as early as 5 a.m. and continue as late as 9 p.m., if deemed necessary by the city.

Exempting projects from noise sanctions is expected to benefit contractors, who can breathe easier without worrying about muffling the sounds of work that is critical to the reconstruction effort. It will also create more hours in the day for rebuilding homeowners, whose two years of expected insurance payouts for living expenses are fast coming to an end, and free up city staff from investigating noise complaints.

Without the change, the city could be asked to respond to complaints filed against numerous noisy contractors in Fountaingrove and Coffey Park right now. Construction noise in the two neighborhoods already exceeds what is usually allowed near single-family homes, but Santa Rosa doesn’t want to carry out that type of enforcement against rebuilding work, according to Gabe Osburn, the city’s deputy director of ?development services.

“That’s not a situation we wanted to put the contractors in, because that (work) is needed,” Osburn told the council Tuesday.

Normal noise rules for residential neighborhoods continue to apply outside of the burned areas.

The decision to ease enforcement of the noise ordinance comes after a city study of rebuilding areas in March quantified the fact that construction sounds there - the sharp snaps of nail guns, the incessant droning of generators - regularly broke Santa Rosa’s rules for neighborhood noise. It also follows conversations in recent months with builders and rebuilding homeowners alike, Osburn said, showing how Santa Rosa is adapting to the unique challenge of rebuilding more than 3,000 homes.

“There is a lot of playing it by ear and when we do that, we need to make sure we engage all segments of the community,” he said.

City Manager Sean McGlynn, or one of his deputies, could extend exemptions for noisy construction operations in the rebuild areas to as early as 5 a.m. and as late as 9 p.m. from Monday through Friday under certain circumstances, though no such decisions have been made yet.

Osburn said these extra hours are intended to be for critical activities that need to happen to avoid delays, such as pouring concrete for foundations. And as days get hotter, working early or late may be important to prevent framers from being exposed to the heat of the day, he said.

Any contractor seeking to operate that early or that late must provide written notice to homeowners within 150 feet of the construction site 48 hours before work begins. The city also will have the ability to broaden that radius.

John Allen, chief operating officer of Santa Rosa-based building company APM Homes, acknowledged some residents who had already moved back in might be annoyed by the neighbor’s noisy rebuild. But, he said it was imperative to “do all that we can to support fire survivors and the construction industry.”

“We need to get these homes completed, and people back in their homes,” Allen told the City Council on Tuesday. “While it may be an inconvenience to some, it is an inconvenience to our entire community not to have our community members back in their homes and moving on to that last phase of recovery, which is rebuilding their lives.”

Fountaingrove homeowner Ron Fiori said he neither supported nor opposed the changes, but voiced concern about loud sounds in the early morning hours. He also suggested the city consider increasing the 150-foot notification requirement for contractors seeking permission to start early or work late.

“In Fountaingrove, 150 feet is nothing,” he said Tuesday. “You could hear 2,000 feet away.”

About 1,200 homes are under construction in Coffey Park and Fountaingrove, with a couple hundred more either approved or pending and awaiting construction as of mid-June, according to city data. About 400 rebuilding projects have been completed in those two neighborhoods, which were the hardest hit in the city by the Tubbs fire.

Though she voted for the changes and expressed support for easing rules that might restrict homeowners recovering from a disaster, Councilwoman Julie Combs voiced concerns about giving those same privileges to housing developers building homes in fire zones as speculative investments.

“I am eager to give you discretion to do this,” Combs said Tuesday. “I am not eager to give you discretion to do this wholesale throughout the area for anybody who wants to build anything there. It concerns me to not prioritize homeowners’ rebuilds, and I would really like to see that be an element of this.”

Councilman Jack Tibbetts proposed bringing the issue back before the City Council in two months once city staff see how the new rules are affecting life and work in the rebuild areas.

McGlynn, the city manager, said he would be open to revisiting and revising the new noise rules, which would expire once the city dissolves the special zoning districts it created a few weeks after the fires to hasten rebuilding efforts.

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.