New Braunfels Approves First Reading to Shorten Construction Hours
New Braunfels council unanimously approved a first reading to shorten construction hours after complaints at Lyndon Ranch, the Herald-Zeitung reported. A final vote is expected Nov. 16.
The New Braunfels City Council has approved, on first reading only, an ordinance that would shorten the hours when construction may take place in the city, following complaints about noise and late work at the Lyndon Ranch Apartments site, the Herald-Zeitung reported.
The item appeared on the Nov. 9 council agenda as a first reading of an ordinance amending Section 14-7 of the Code of Ordinances related to construction work hours. Official minutes from that 6 p.m. meeting had not been finalized on the city’s Legistar page when this report was prepared, and the page warned that actions taken and their results were not available. No official vote is recorded there. The Herald-Zeitung, in a Nov. 10 report by Tennyson Luhrs, said the council unanimously approved the first reading and that a second reading and final approval are expected at a special council session on Nov. 16. Until a final ordinance is adopted, the hours now in the code remain in force.
According to that newspaper account, the first-reading version would limit construction to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with no construction on Sundays or city-observed holidays.
What the posted ordinance draft and current code say
The ordinance draft posted with the official agenda item is the staff proposal. Staff recommended shortening hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and that attached draft, dated before the meeting, would make it unlawful to start work or cause construction noise between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. It would replace the current prohibition, which the same draft shows as 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The staff write-up says the existing allowable hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The posted draft does not, in the text opened for this report, set different Saturday hours or ban work on Sundays or city holidays. Those tighter limits are from the Herald-Zeitung’s account of what passed on first reading. The official attachment also includes exceptions for restoring property after a public calamity, restoring public utilities, protecting persons or property from imminent danger, and a variance process through the building official. The draft’s signature block left a placeholder second-reading date of Nov. 23; the newspaper’s Nov. 16 special-session date is the one reported after the meeting.
The newspaper also described a noise rule in Section 82-9: within 100 feet of a residential district, activity may not produce more than 85 decibels before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m., with up to 75 decibels permitted during all other hours. That wording is reported as the Herald-Zeitung described it; the city code section itself was not opened for this report.
Deputy City Manager Jordan Matney told the paper the city has received “substantial complaints” since the fall about tree clearing, excessive dust, long work hours and noise at Lyndon Ranch. A 24-hour stop-work order was issued Oct. 12 over excessive dust, the paper reported. Decibel readings on Oct. 27, Matney said, showed the site was not producing more than 85 decibels but spiked around 80. During citizens communications, one nearby resident played a video of his own reader picking up levels as high as 83 from his property.
The paper, citing its earlier reporting, described Lyndon Ranch as an affordable rental project of about 303 units. Half would be leased to families at 80 percent of area median income under a restrictive covenant lasting at least 40 years; 5 percent of one-bedroom units would be set aside for teachers earning 95 percent of area median income; remaining units are expected at market rate. The developer is Paravel Capital.
Council tightened staff’s recommendation, the newspaper reported
City staff, police, the city manager’s office and District 3 Councilmember D. Lee Edwards met with the developer on Oct. 28 and reminded the company of existing ordinances, the paper reported. Matney told the Herald-Zeitung the developer had been uncooperative in talks about shorter hours, including a request to halt Sunday work. The next evening, the city received several complaints, and police found operations continuing past 9 p.m. on two visits. Another 24-hour stop-work order was issued Oct. 30, the paper said.
Staff recommended shortening hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., based on comparisons with similar cities, according to both the official agenda item and the newspaper. Council members said that was not enough relief, the Herald-Zeitung reported. Edwards, whose district includes the project, said residents described constant noise all day, every day, for a 30-day period, and he asked that Sundays be left out of the construction hours. Matney cautioned that the ordinance would apply to every permitted construction project in the city, and that tighter limits could slow smaller residential jobs and subdivision work. He also said Lyndon Ranch “is a huge problem for those neighbors” and “it is without question that it is unreasonable.”
Councilmember Toni Carter proposed the 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday window, with no work on Sundays, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter, the paper reported. Councilmembers Lawrence Spradley and Mary Ann Labowski wanted the ban extended to all city-recognized holidays. Councilmember Nikki Shaw agreed, saying the council’s “obligation is not to the contractor, it’s to the people of the city who elected us to look after them.”
Mayor Pro Tem Michael Capizzi warned that folding in every city holiday — including Comal County Fair Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day — “will entirely cripple an industry and an entire, large population of workers.” He favored Carter’s shorter list of major holidays and said the rules would reach “any work done whatsoever anywhere,” including carpet, painting and remodels. “Let’s not punish other people that haven’t created the problem,” he said, according to the Herald-Zeitung.
The version the paper said passed unanimously on first reading includes the tighter weekday and Saturday hours and bars work on Sundays and city-observed holidays. Edwards also asked for summer-hour adjustments because of heat, and for a clear path to Sunday exceptions. Matney said any exception process should be thoroughly outlined, with an application and a fee.
City Hall is at 550 Landa St., New Braunfels, Texas 78130, according to the city’s City Hall page, phone 830-221-4000.
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