DATE: December 20, 2022
TO: Adam Politzer, Interim City Manager
FROM: Charles S. Bryant, Community Development Director SUBJECT: BioMed Realty Noise Waiver Request
Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Emeryville Denying A Waiver From The Noise Ordinance To BioMed Realty For Early Morning Work On All Mondays Between January 9, 2023 and May 22, 2023 From 5:00 A.M. To 7:00 A.M. At 4555 Horton Street (Garage Building 14 Of BioMed Project) (APN: 49-1544-1-4) (CEQA Status: Exempt Pursuant To State CEQA Guidelines Section 15270(a)) OR
Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Emeryville Approving A Waiver From The Noise Ordinance To BioMed Realty For Early Morning Work On All Mondays Between January 9, 2023 and May 22, 2023 From 5:00 A.M. To 7:00 A.M. At 4555 Horton Street (Garage Building 14 Of BioMed Project) And Designating Conditions Of Approval (APN: 49-1544-1-4) (CEQA Status: Exempt Pursuant To State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3))
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution denying a waiver from the Noise Ordinance to allow work from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. on all Monday mornings between January 9, 2023 and May 22, 2023, for stressing of post tension cables in the concrete at Garage Building 14 of the BioMed project under construction at 4555 Horton Street.
After hearing the applicant’s presentation and taking public testimony, if the Council wishes to approve this request, a resolution approving the Noise Waiver is also attached.
DISCUSSION
Noise Ordinance Waiver Procedures
Chapter 13 of Title 5 of the Emeryville Municipal Code limits construction noise to 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. weekdays but allows a developer or contractor to ask the City Council for a waiver of the construction noise restrictions. Section 5-13.06 sets forth the procedures for a waiver. The applicant must submit a request, accompanied by the required fee, to the Planning Director, stating the hours and days of work requested, type of work to be conducted, type of equipment to be used, location on the property where work will take place, and reason(s) why a waiver is needed. The City Council then holds a noticed public hearing on the request and may grant the request by resolution and designate such conditions as it deems necessary. After granting the request, the City Council may revoke or modify the waiver if the applicant fails to comply with any of the conditions upon which the waiver was granted, or if complaints are received and not satisfactorily resolved.
Reason for Noise Waiver Request
Hathaway Dinwiddie is the general contractor for the BioMed project that is under construction at 4555 Horton Street (Garage Building 14) and at 5555 Hollis Street (Research and Development Building 2). The Planning Commission approved a Final Development Plan for the project on February 25, 2021, and a building permit for Building 14 was issued on September 26, 2022. BioMed Realty (the developer) and Hathaway Dinwiddie (general contractor) are requesting permission to do work from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. on all Monday mornings between January 9 and May 22, 2023, for stressing of post tension cables in the concrete at Garage Building 14. The stated reason for the request is to increase site and worker safety.
The applicant had initially requested Monday early morning work for one year with a 3:00 a.m. start time. However, after discussion with staff, the applicant revised their request. Also, the applicant has requested Monday morning work from now until May 30, 2022. Since Monday December 26 (Christmas), Monday, January 2 (New Years’ Day) and Monday, May 29 (Memorial Day) are City holidays, staff believes that, if approved, Monday work should not begin until January 9 and should end by May 22, thus avoiding all City holidays.
Type of Tools and Work: There will be a 3-person crew doing stressing using “rams”, which consists of tensioning steel cables in the suspended slabs to several thousand pounds of force in order to provide structural support. The work will be performed around the perimeter and middle section of the building (see page 8 of Applicant Request Letter, Attachment 1). The Applicant Request Letter states that the “rams” typically operate around 60-65 dBA, which is similar to a household vacuum cleaner, and includes a cut sheet of the equipment to be used (although this does not indicate decibel levels). In order to better understand the type of work that will be done, the following links provide short videos of tensioning work:
HYPERLINK "https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_watch-3Fv-3DPDgfnGqPj1c&d=DwQFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=7-L0EoS2NogMparJ4rSKqU8vnelBiDliwH7I0PfG9s8&m=0_QwtSlw2pqnNMCGqjzv_DhhKkCgcaizHLSEazsIeQU&s=PNrl796C_Et-r_J7-_eTi6eZgWsP_7g0EXZ2t_No2f4&e="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDgfnGqPj1c HYPERLINK "https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_watch-3Fv-3D1MrQD2NamUE&d=DwQFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=7-L0EoS2NogMparJ4rSKqU8vnelBiDliwH7I0PfG9s8&m=0_QwtSlw2pqnNMCGqjzv_DhhKkCgcaizHLSEazsIeQU&s=XY5faf39JF2ND1v2oCWNzLcWkqswRog1GnzHkwE8H-4&e="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MrQD2NamUE.
Staff Analysis:
The Applicant Request Letter states that “Early morning stressing increases site and worker safety since only the crew performing the work is on-site and no other crews are around. Stressing is inherently very dangerous due to the possibility of cables snapping during tensioning." The letter also asserts that this will reduce the need for overtime work, which “has been shown to reduce safety and productivity due to increased worker fatigue and accident rates.” Staff notes that, while cable tensioning work is indeed more dangerous than other construction activities, there are several prestressed concrete garages in Emeryville that have been constructed within the City’s regular construction hours. These include The Emery garage building B2 (formerly known as the Sherwin Williams project) and the EmeryStation West Garage, to name the two most recent projects. Staff is not aware of any previous noise waiver requests involving prestressing of concrete. Thus, it appears that the purpose of this request for early morning work may be mainly to shorten the construction schedule.
The site is about 60 feet from The Emery Building B2 that is now occupied; about 168 feet from the Artists Co-Op; and 330 feet from the Bay Street rental apartments. Given the proximity of these residential developments, plus the fact that the main goal of the noise waiver appears to be to shorten the construction schedule, staff believes that there is no compelling reason to allow weekly early morning construction hours for about five months.
Therefore, staff recommends that this request be denied. However, after hearing the applicant’s presentation and taking public testimony, if the Council wishes to approve this request, a resolution approving the Noise Waiver is also attached.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
STAFF COMMUNICATION WITH THE PUBLIC
As required by the Noise Ordinance, staff mailed notices to property owners and site addresses within 300 feet of 4555 Horton Street and published a legal advertisement in the Oakland Tribune.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the Council deny the noise waiver request as outlined in the attached draft resolution for denial. However, if the Council wishes to approve this request, a draft resolution approving the Noise Waiver is also attached.
PREPARED BY: Miroo Desai, Senior Planner
APPROVED AND FORWARDED TO THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE:
________________________
Adam Politzer, Interim City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Applicant Request Letter
Draft Resolution Denying the Noise Waiver
Draft Resolution Approving the Noise Waiver
BioMed Realty Noise Waiver Request
City Council Meeting | December 20, 2022
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City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM