Council gives staff direction to draft ordinance allowing limited Saturday construction

City staff asked the Newberg City Council for direction on revising the city's nuisance code to address requests for extended construction hours and the council agreed by consensus to have staff draft a proposed ordinance. Scott Siegel, community development director, said the current code permits construction noise Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and allows limited exceptions for emergency repairs and certain utility work. Siegel said the police department and code enforcement have seen an uptick in requests for permits allowing weekend construction, and that staff have approved five temporary permits in the past year for weekend work. "We're seeing larger land development projects with supply-chain constraints that differ from home remodels," Siegel said. He described the existing permit process as limited (permits are typically issued for three days at a time and may be renewed at least once) and complaint-driven. Staff presented a comparison of nearby cities: most allow Saturday construction under some conditions, fewer allow Sunday work and Newberg was more restrictive than many peers. Siegel recommended the council consider allowing Saturday construction hours and limited Sunday hours to shorten the duration of construction impacts and help projects meet regulatory windows. Neil Winter, code enforcement officer, said complaints are relatively rare ("on average, maybe one person per large construction area will consistently complain") and emphasized enforcement time and the limited deterrent effect of small fines on large projects. A general contractor who spoke during the discussion recommended an 8 a.m. Saturday start and noted weekend work often prepares sites for Monday inspections. Siegel and Brian Kershaw of Capital Engineering said staff would conduct outreach to neighborhoods affected by large projects and would coordinate contractor notification as part of any change. Mayor and council members indicated consensus to direct staff to draft an ordinance aligning Newberg's standards more closely with neighboring cities and to return the ordinance for future public hearing and adoption. There was no formal vote; staff said they would prepare the ordinance for a future meeting.