The city of Prairie Village is stepping up its noise ordinance enforcement as the community grows fatigued with construction noise from teardown-rebuilds.
Now, the Prairie Village City Council may require construction hour signage with a phone number to report violations at construction sites such as teardown-rebuilds in single-family neighborhoods — the source of noise complaint frustration among some residents.
Starting July 7, city staff and the Prairie Village Police Department began stepping up enforcement of the construction noise ordinance. The city notified top permit holders of the rules and is now moving straight to ticketing violators, among other efforts to enforce the city codes currently on the books.
Between Jan. 1 and July 6, the city received 24 construction noise complaints and issued warnings in 21 of those cases, according to city documents. After stepping up enforcement starting July 7, the city has received four noise complaints as of Aug. 4.
Still, the additional enforcement and future construction signage is not as far as some in the city, like Councilmember Inga Selders, want to see restrictions go. She proposed prohibiting construction in the city on Sundays and further restricting construction hours.
The city council agreed on Aug. 4 to formally consider whether to add the construction hour signage and violations hotline to certain building sites in Prairie Village.
City has already ramped up enforcement
Deputy City Administrator Nickie Lee told the city council on Aug. 4 that steps have already been taken to ramp up enforcement of the city’s existing noise ordinance, which was developed five years ago to address teardown-rebuild construction noise.
In the past month, Lee said the city has sent its top teardown-rebuild permit holders a reminder of the city’s noise ordinance and a warning against creating construction noise outside of the allotted hours.
From May 15 to Sept. 15, builders can make construction noise between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. on weekends. Weekdays exclude federal holidays, but weekend hours include federal holidays, according to city documents.
The rest of the year, non-summer construction hours run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
The city has more than 900 active building permit applications.
Lee said reminding the city’s top permit holders of the noise ordinance allows the city to move straight to ticketing those holders if the city learns of any violations.
Additionally, a building codes enforcement officer now comes into work earlier during the summer months to help alleviate any calls for service related to construction the police department may receive, Lee said.
Breaking the city’s ordinance results in a fine up to $500 for the first violation, up to $1,000 for the second violation within 12 months of the first, and up to $2,500 for all other subsequent violations within 12 months of the first.
One councilmember suggests stricter time constraints
Councilmember Selders said she wants to see more restrictions on allowable construction hours under the noise ordinance.
Selders proposed aligning with the city of Mission Hills on their ordinance, which limits construction hours to 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, with no construction on Sunday.
Additionally, Selders recommended taking it a step further to prohibit construction on federal holidays.
With only 24 noise ordinance complaints in seven months, Councilmember Terry O’Toole said he’s “hesitant to knock out 52 work days” for these construction crews.
O’Toole said Prairie Village is going to have teardown-rebuilds, and that he thinks there is a better way to handle co-existing with this type of construction.
Selders’ motion to reflect her construction hour and day restrictions failed in a 9-2 vote, with Selders and Councilmember Lori Sharp in favor. Councilmember Ian Graves was absent.
O’Toole motioned to require construction sites to post separate construction hour signage with a phone number to call in the event of violations. That motion passed in a 10-1 vote, with Selders casting the lone dissenting vote because she wanted to see stricter measures put in place.
Next steps:
- At a future city council meeting, Prairie Village needs to consider O’Toole’s motion regarding construction hour signage.
- The Prairie Village City Council meets the first and third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at city hall, 7700 Mission Road.
Go deeper: Watch the city council’s entire discussion online here, starting at 1:19:17.
