Avalon Mulls New Construction Regs

AVALON – Avalon Borough Council continued its discussion Sept. 26 of what resident Julie Donatelli called the “huge hot topic” of the summer council meetings. 
For much of the summer, property owners here have complained to council about “out of control” construction that ruined their summer experience. Council reacted to the continuous barrage of complaints promising action.
The borough formed an internal review committee that has been considering changes to various ordinances that govern construction sites. Solicitor Nicole Curio said the goal was to have appropriate changes in place before the start of the 2019 season.
“Two top priorities we have worked on are the stop-work order and holiday hours,” Curio said. Both are a reaction to some of the heated discussions that dominated public comment over the summer.
The borough is considering ways to allow the construction official to issue a stop-work order to contractors who have repeated ordinance violations. This move is intended to provide a new tool to use where normal fines had become a cost of doing business rather than a deterrent to the violation of construction rules. 
In a community with a large number of expensive developments underway, residents complained that many contractors consider municipal fines as a nuisance to be born rather than a reason to change practices.
Holiday hours was an emotional topic at meetings where residents spoke of ruined plans and an inability to enjoy their homes on major holiday periods around Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day.
This was especially true this year when the mid-week occurrence of July 4 meant that existing ordinances offered no constraints at all on construction.
Curio said the internal committee was proposing a ban on construction over the full weekends of Memorial Day and Labor Day as well as a variable schedule forbidding work on Independence Day and surrounding days depending on the day of the week July 4 occurs.
According to Curio other matters the committee is considering are changes to work hours concerning start and stop times, a broadening of the definition of construction that would allow more activity to fall under ordinance regulation, and defining a formal construction zone so as to constrain the area available to a contractor for trailer and dumpsters.
Council member Charles Covington urged the committee to consider the recent changes put in place in Stone Harbor. He argued that consistency between the two boroughs would eliminate potential confusion over the construction rules north or south of 80th Street (the border between boroughs).
He also suggested a potential prohibition on construction on Sundays even in the off season.
During public comment Donatelli thanked council for beginning to take action but urged that the agenda for action should be broader.
She asked that the borough make needed changes to reduce the amount of Azek (a type of decking made to look like wood) and other “plastic dust” being dispersed into the air at construction sites. She said containment of this “pollutant” must be a goal for the ordinance changes.
Donatelli also urged the council to ban all construction on Saturday as well as Sunday during the summer. This was a plea echoed by another resident, Martha Wright, who argued in favor of a 40-hour work week for contractors, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Donatelli cited regulations in Sea Isle City to support a requirement to have contractors remove trailers from the street every evening. She and Wright also pushed for rules that would limit the size of dumpsters that they say damage streets and block line of sight for cars.
Encouraged to see the borough working on more stringent construction rules and better enforcement capability, Donatelli also continued her argument from previous meetings that the borough should include residents on its committee.
Council member Nancy Hudanich called the discussion a good “first step” toward responding to residents’ concerns before what the similar discussion in Stone Harbor termed “the sacred summer” begins again.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.