Spring Hill leaders to hold public meeting on changes to construction noise ordinance

Following a decision on Monday from the Spring Hill Board of Mayor and Aldermen, city residents and developers will soon have the opportunity to provide public input on a proposed ordinance that would place more concrete limits on construction hours within the city.

In May, John Maher of John Maher Builders voiced his opposition to the proposed city ordinance, relaying concerns that his workers — most of whom "cannot afford to live in Spring Hill," he said — might not be able to "feed their families" if forced to work fewer hours.

Maher's concerns presumably made an impact on the board's decision, who voted 8-1 to defer the vote on the ordinance to a future date.

Ordinance 21-10

Currently, Spring Hill allows for construction to take place on weekdays between 7 a.m.-6 p.m., and between 7 a.m.-8 p.m. during the summer. On Saturdays, construction can take place between 9 a.m.-6 p.m. However, an exception to these allotted construction hours exists for work that creates "no detectable noise from beyond the property boundary."

Residents, however, have made numerous complaints to city staff and leaders that this ordinance is routinely violated.

Ordinance 21-10, which came up again during Monday night's city meeting, would strip away those exceptions.

Aug. 16 Spring Hill city meeting

During Monday's meeting, City Administrator Pam Caskie asked the board's direction as to how to organize the public meeting for the purpose of collecting citizen input, and asked city leaders whether they preferred a city staff organized meeting, or a special BOMA meeting.

Alderman Hazel Nieves suggested the meeting take the format of a town hall, and that adequate advertising of the meeting should take place on the city's website and social media pages. Other aldermen voiced support for a meeting organized by city staff, something that was agreed to by Mayor Jim Hagaman.

With the decision made, the ordinance will not appear on the next city meeting's agenda, and will instead be discussed at a public meeting in the near future.