Construction Impact Management Strategy

The City of Langford is developing a Construction Impact Management Strategy which is a key component of a ‘Good Neighbour’ Policy. The ‘Good Neighbour’ Policy will provide direction and requires a commitment from all developers and businesses at the earliest stage of permitting on how to effectively mitigate potential impacts, inform residents, and address issues throughout development and operations.

The overall objective of the ‘Good Neighbour’ Policy is to accommodate growth, development, and business operations in a way that is reasonably livable for neighbouring residents. Since the majority of complaints in a growing city are related to construction nuisances, the City is addressing this first through the Construction Impact Management Strategy. Nuisances caused by on-going business operations will not be addressed through the Construction Impact Management Strategy but rather through the next phase of the ‘Good Neighbour’ Policy process.

The following is a representation of the order and focus of the strategy and policy:

1. Construction Impact Management Strategy focus → Development/Construction
2. ‘Good Neighbour’ Policy focus → Development/Construction + Business Operations

To develop this Strategy, we want to hear how and where residents are impacted by construction, understand the community’s priorities for change, and learn about how some contractors are already being good neighbours.

This survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and closes November 19, 2024.

Background

Construction is essential to grow our City and provide affordable housing and amenities to residents. However, construction nuisances are sometimes a significant source of complaints in a growing city. This is usually because there are gaps in our bylaws that prevent the City from mitigating certain construction practices. To support the development of a Construction Impact Management Strategy, staff conducted a gaps analysis of the City’s existing bylaws against current complaints and a literature review of established ‘Good Neighbour’ policies in BC. For a full background and more information on the preliminary results of the gaps analysis, please refer to the Construction Impact Management Strategy Staff Report to the Sustainable Development Advisory Committee dated June 10, 2024.

The Construction Impact Management Strategy will balance the unavoidable impacts of construction, such as noise and road closures during allowable hours, with the expectation that contractors be “good neighbours” by communicating with residents and minimizing or making good on impacts to nearby homes and businesses.

Examples of reasonable and unreasonable construction impacts are shared below.

Examples of Reasonable Impacts (considered legitimate disruptions)

• Noise during allowable times (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays)
• Some dust or equipment exhaust
• Crane setup/take-down
• Hammering, drilling, blasting
• Equipment back-up beepers
• Extra-long concrete pours
• Planned and limited road/sidewalk closures or traffic changes
• Construction licences for street occupancy for extended periods of time, in agreement with the City

Examples of Unreasonable Impacts (considered poor construction practices)

• Noise outside of allowable times
• On-street parking violations
• Damage to surrounding properties
• Rude or offensive behaviour from workers
• Inadequate site security and safety
• Excessive dust and smoke
• Insufficient erosion and sediment control or environmental spills
• Improper storage of materials
• Unpermitted sidewalk/street blockages

This survey is intended to understand how residents are impacted by construction in Langford. Targeted engagement will take place with the business and development community later this year when draft bylaw amendments have been prepared.