Palm Beach officials have given an initial green light to an ordinance that would prohibit construction from Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day.
The Town Council on June 11 unanimously approved the measure on first reading. It is intended to improve traffic flow on the island, and extends the town’s current restrictions on holiday construction. Under current rules, the town does not allow construction on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
The council will take a final vote in July.
The town has been working to develop strategies to ease traffic congestion on the island, and a holiday construction ban is one of the measures that has won approval from the council. Others, such as an ordinance that would require contractors for large or high-value construction projects to transport workers on and off the island, are still being considered.
Local builders have pushed back against the proposed legislation, arguing it unfairly blames them for the town’s traffic challenges by mandating construction management agreements for certain project sizes and types. A construction management agreement is a legal contract that defines how a construction project will be managed from start to finish.
“We are just one industry of many that work on the island and feel that we are being made the scapegoat for the town’s traffic problems,” Tim Benitz, of Benitz Building LLC, told the council in February.
Town officials have expressed some support for construction management agreements, noting they could help keep construction vehicles off town roads during peak hours.
“I think there is a consensus to do something,” Council Member Lew Crampton said in March. “I do think that the construction management agreement can be worded or worked so that it is not too onerous for the builders and too onerous on our residents. There’ll be some compromises in terms of the process, but let’s get it done.”
Certain projects would be required to formally enter into a construction management agreement, and the town would define the criteria for determining which ones qualify.
During their March 4 meeting, council members instructed town staff to collaborate with local contractors to develop a mutually acceptable solution. Those parties, along with Town Attorney Joanne O’Connor, met March 25 to review a draft construction management agreement and the accompanying ordinance.
During that meeting, contractors renewed their objections to the proposed ordinance, but remained receptive to other strategies aimed at resolving traffic and parking challenges caused by ongoing building projects, Planning, Zoning and Building Director Wayne Bergman said.
Those strategies were presented to council members at their May 13 meeting.
They were: No construction work between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day; Saturday interior quiet work during the season; extending temporary construction work hours into the summer months; and allowing summer parking for contractors at the town marina.
After reviewing each strategy, the council opted to move forward only with the holiday construction ban.
Council members couldn’t reach a consensus on allowing interior quiet work during the season, and unanimously opposed continuing the temporary construction hours implemented in February, which extended the workday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The temporary hours expired May 15.
The council opted against approving summer parking for contractors at the town marina.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach aims to pass ban on construction from Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day
Reporting by Jodie Wagner, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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