Acknowledging the challenge of selling his proposal to residents, Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo withdrew the measure ahead of a scheduled vote this week — but vowed to bring it back.
A controversial proposal to extend weekday construction hours for heavy machinery and other noise-generating equipment has been withdrawn – for now.
The Miami City Commission had been scheduled to vote on the measure Thursday, but it was pulled from the agenda at the request of District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo, who had sponsored the legislation.
Among other changes to the city’s noise ordinance, the new law would have allowed construction-related noise Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. – an hour earlier and an hour later than under the existing code.
In a Zoom call with constituents on Tuesday Pardo described the item’s withdrawal as a strategic setback rather than a defeat.
“We just need more time,” Pardo said. “And we want to take the time to do it right, as opposed to putting something out there that might be completely misinterpreted, and then we all lose.”
Pardo first floated his proposal to amend the city’s construction noise ordinance last April, igniting a firestorm of protest from residents and civic leaders citywide. Amid the backlash, a scheduled commission vote on the changes was deferred to the fall.
In addition to the extended hours, Pardo’s proposal also would have removed the threat of criminal prosecution for repeat and other egregious violations of the city’s noise ordinance. While fines would increase, enforcement would be handled by the city administratively outside the courts.
Another provision would have streamlined the city’s process for developers and contractors to request “noise waivers” to operate heavy equipment and generate construction noise during the evening and early-morning, outside normal working hours. Currently, only the city manager can approve such requests, but the proposal would have delegated that authority to subordinates.
Noise waivers are handed out freely in Miami. A Spotlight investigation earlier this year found that city officials approved every one of the more than 1,100 requests filed over an 18-month period — not a single application was denied. Records also showed that city officials regularly approved after-hours noise waivers for routine construction work, even though the law limits them to emergencies or hazardous conditions.
Pardo continues to argue, as he did last spring, that extending the allowable window for construction noise by two hours each day would make developers and contractors less likely to seek after-hours waivers. In other words, the change wouldn’t reduce the noise itself — only the need for waivers to allow it.
“The way the waivers are used and the way they are implemented and approved,” Pardo told his Zoom audience on Tuesday, “[developers and contractors] wouldn’t have to get a waiver, and we would be incentivizing them to just move the noise without having to pay what would be an administrative fee, have a person on site to supervise during [after] hours.”
Pardo did not respond to Spotlight’s request for comment.
It is quite disturbing that Commissioner Pardo is pushing to expand the hours allowed for construction noise from 8-6 to 7-7.
This will harm, not help, the quality of life in our neighborhoods.
Instead of trying to allow longer noise hours, he should be pushing to enforce the ordinance, and not give waivers to developers just for the asking.
1,100 construction noise waivers were requested, ZERO were denied.
This is another example of how Miami has government of developers, for developers, by developers.
Elvis Cruz,
Morningside
Why in the world is Pardo still even talking about this? The only people who stand to benefit at all are the city employees who rubber stamp the waiver applications. It doesn’t even seem like it will benefit them much.
Unbelievable. Residents are begging for a better quality of life in this town. That was Pardo’s appeal and now he puts his time and energy into this? Hey, how about putting your time and energy into enforcing the existing limits on this noise pollution instead of being another elected pol caving to developers?
Just like the boater ordinance, target a few hundred low income boaters for pollution, meanwhile rampant development is killing our bay, clogging our highways, eliminating our canopy, and ruining our quality of life. And the County faced a $400 million budget hole to boot, with massive property value increases (putting many in jeopardy of not affording their homes) so there goes the argument that development helps the tax base. My goodness, what are the priorities of these elected officials, only to bend a knee to developers?
The playhouse demo crew has been routinely violating noise ordinances. This morning I got woke up at 6:49am. This extension will only incentivize more violations and not dissuade them. Recently Damian Prado seems to be incentivized by developers. What happened to the guy that cared about the neighborhoods and communities?