This Study Issue originated when a citizen expressed concern at the City Council meeting on December 16, 2003, about an on-going construction project. The Council ranked this issue number 3 for study in 2004 by the Community Development Department.

This study issue includes the review of two areas; 1) the allowable hours of construction for homeowners, and 2) potential limits for the overall duration of construction for homeowners. As part of the research for this study issue, staff has reviewed the existing ordinances, the number and percent of inquiries/complaints received on these two issued, and the requirements in other local jurisdictions.

Based on the research and finding, staff is recommending that an ordinance be adopted to modify the hours of construction for homeowners to have a start time of 7:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, rather than the currently allowed 6:00 a.m.

BACKGROUND

This issue was raised at a City Council public hearing on December 16, 2003 by a citizen. The specific complaint was regarding an addition that had been under construction for over one year, including continuous work on the weekends.

At that meeting Councilmember Miller sponsored this item to be placed as a study issue for consideration for 2004 (Attachment A). At the Council Study Issue Workshop in December 2003, this item was ranked number three for the Community Development Department.

EXISTING POLICY

The Municipal Code currently allows construction activity to occur as follows:

Hours of Construction Allowed (16.08.110)
Day	Time
Work Performed by a Contractor
Monday through Friday	7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday	8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sundays and national holidays	No activity allowed
Work Performed by a Homeowner
Monday through Saturday	6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sundays and national holidays	8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The ordinance is more restrictive for contractor performed work than for homeowners working on their own property. The increased hours for homeowner construction is designed to provide adequate time for homeowners to complete work on their property considering most homeowners work full time jobs during the week and have more time to work on their property only in the evenings and on weekends.

The current ordinance also allows a contractor or homeowner to request extended hours of construction. These requests are reviewed by the Chief Building Official and only approved if the additional construction activity will not be a nuisance to surrounding properties, based on the location and type of construction.

The overall duration of construction (time from start to finish) is not limited as long as construction activity does not cease for a period of 180 days or longer. This has been a requirements of the 2001 California Building Code for over 20 years and is also reflected in the Municipal Code.

DISCUSSION

There are two main areas of research for this study issue; 1) review the allowable hours of construction for homeowners, and 2) potential limits for the overall duration of construction for homeowners. Following is the staff research, discussion, and recommendation for each area.

Hours of Construction

Construction hours are limited because construction activity can be loud and disrupt adjacent properties. The Municipal Code currently allows more time for homeowners to perform construction work on their own property. The intent of the increased hours for homeowner construction is designed to provide adequate time for homeowners to complete work on their property considering most homeowners work full time jobs outside of the home. As a policy, staff has only permitted the actual homeowner(s), and not extended family or other additional individuals, to perform construction work during these additional times.

Staff completed a survey of allowed construction hours for other local jurisdictions (Attachment B). Similar to Sunnyvale, some jurisdictions provide extended construction hours for homeowners. Other jurisdictions provide the same construction hours for homeowners as for contractors. Of the 13 jurisdictions surveyed, only one jurisdiction allows homeowner construction to begin as early 6:00 a.m. Some jurisdictions allow homeowner construction to extend as late as 10:00 p.m. Based on the survey findings, the current construction hours in Sunnyvale are basically in the middle of the spectrum.

Staff receives approximately 1-5 complaints annually regarding homeowner construction activity occurring beyond the allowable hours. Considering over 4,000 building permits are issued annually and approximately 15,000 inspections are completed, the percent of projects with complaints is minimal.

When a complaint is received regarding construction occurring beyond the allowable hours, the building inspector for the project will inform the contractor or homeowner of the allowable hours and explain that construction activity is not to occur beyond those times. Most cases are resolved the same day the complaint is received or the next business day.

If the contractor or homeowner continues to violate the allowable construction hours, the Building Division can shut the construction down for a limited time, typically 24-hours. This is typically a good deterrent because losing time is costly and inconvenient. This type of penalty is rarely enforced (staff recalls five such situations in the past 10 years) because most violations are corrected with the first warning and recurring violations are rare.

Staff recommends reducing the hours of construction for homeowners from a start time of 6:00 a.m. on Monday through Saturday to 7:00 a.m. (Attachment C). Staff has received feedback from citizens that 6:00 a.m. is too early and disruptive for neighboring residents. While many jurisdictions surveyed do not allow construction to occur on Sundays or National Holidays, staff is not recommending modifications to the homeowner construction hours on these days. Further restrictions on homeowner construction hours may cause the overall duration of construction to lengthen due to limited time available for homeowners to complete their projects.

Overall Duration of Construction

Part of this study issue also included research regarding curtailing construction hours for projects that have a long overall duration or limiting the overall duration of construction projects.

Currently, building permits are valid as long as activity on the project does not cease for a period of 180 days. To monitor this, staff uses building inspection records. If an inspection has not been scheduled for over 180 days, the permit may be expired. Prior to expiration of a permit, staff takes several steps to notify the applicant of the permit status. Automated letters are generated and mailed monthly to inform project applicants when their permit is about to expire. A series of three letters are mailed and a telephone call from the project building inspector is made before a permit is expired.

The majority of building permits issued receive all required building inspections and are finaled within one year after issuance. The following table shows the time from permit issuance to the final inspection for all building permits that have been closed in the past six years:

Completed Building Permits Issued June 1998 – May 2004
Completed Within 1 Year	Completed in 1-2 Years	Completed in 2+ Years
20,077 (94.3%)	967 (4.6%)	242 (1.1%)

Based on the above information, the number of building permits that are not finaled within two years is low. For the projects that have not been completed within two years, there are a variety of reasons including cases where the homeowners are doing the work themselves and there are financial or medical hardships. Staff receives approximately 2-3 inquires annually regarding construction projects that have a long duration. Most of the inquiries received are cases of neighbor spite, where several complaints have been received by the Community Development Department regarding other issues in the neighborhood.

Of the 13 jurisdictions surveyed, none limit the overall duration of a construction project or restrict the construction hours for projects with a long duration. Staff was not able to find any jurisdiction in California that has implemented such restrictions.

In order to develop an ordinance and administrative policy to address construction projects with a long duration, several issues would need to be determined such as:

• What is the time limit for various types of construction projects (e.g. interior remodels, additions, new construction, new residential developments, etc.)?
• If a project is not completed in the required timeframe, what would the penalty be? Additional fees, fines, stop the project?
• Would the limitation be based on each building permit issued? How would cases of multiple permits be handled (i.e. if separate permits were issued consecutively for different projects such as a re-roof, kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, etc.)?
• Would any exceptions be allowed (e.g. financial hardship on the part of the homeowner)?
• What is the amount of additional staff time needed to administer and enforce such an ordinance? 

Because these questions require further research and direction from Council, this report does not expand on these details.

Staff does not recommend imposing any additional limits on the overall duration of construction or restricting construction hours for projects with a long duration. This recommendation is based on the minimal number of complaints received, low percentage of projects that are not complete within two years, and the additional staff time required to implement, administer, and monitor projects.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

This study issue is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act because it does not meet the definition of a “project”; there is no reasonably foreseeable physical change to the environment as a result of the recommended ordinance modification.

FISCAL IMPACT

No fiscal impact to the City is expected if modifications to the existing hours of construction are approved. If limits are placed on the overall duration of construction, additional staff time will be required to track permits and administer the new requirement. The amount of additional staff time needed and fiscal impact would depend of the scope of the new requirement.

PUBLIC CONTACT

Staff notified the community of this study issue in the following ways:

• Mailed letters to all neighborhood association presidents;
• Placed information on the Building Division web site;
• Placed an advertisement on KSUN;
• Published a legal advertisement in The Sun on June 30; and
• Posted the agenda of this meeting and the staff report at the Library and on the City of Sunnyvale web site.

ALTERNATIVES

1. Introduce the ordinance to the Municipal Code (Attachment C) to modify the allowable hours of construction for homeowners to begin at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday.

2. Introduce the ordinance to the Municipal Code with modifications.

3. Do not modify the Municipal Code.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends alternative #1.

Prepared by:

Diana Perkins,

Plan Checker

Reviewed by:

Ali Fatapour,

Chief Building Official

Robert Paternoster,

Director of Community Development

Approved By:

Amy Chan,

City Manager

Attachments

A. Study Issue Paper

B. Survey of Requirements from Other Jurisdictions

C. Draft Ordinance