The City of Manhattan Beach has reached a crisis point. Throughout just four square miles of city jurisdiction, nearly 150 different construction projects were ongoing as of last month. Last year, 70 new homes were built, 970 residences remodeled and 260 commercial buildings improved.
The residential area around 7th Place is currently undergoing 10 to 11 different construction projects. It’s just one of three “hot spots” marked along Highland Avenue, said Sal Kaddorah, a building official with the city’s Community Development Department.
“When the economy improves, the complaints go up,” City Manager Dave Carmany said. “We’ve seen a wave of construction recently, which is generating a lot of neighbor concerns as that construction affects their homes, their walls, their garage doors, et cetera.”
In an effort to mitigate construction-related issues and hold accountable privately-contracted builders for any damage incurred on any adjacent private or public property, the Manhattan Beach City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a motion to require a surety bond, insurance policy or cash deposit prior to issuing a permit.
“When you hit somebody in the pocketbook, it’s amazing how there’s a behavior modification,” Councilman Wayne Powell said, invoking the City of Santa Monica, which imposes a similar policy. “That might mitigate all the problems we’re having now.”
The city’s Residential Community Officer program has sought to rectify many of these common issues and concerns since forming in 2005: noise pollution, whether from shoring, radio or yelling, as well as dust, construction debris, congestion in alleyways and temporary street closures.
Under City Council direction, the city hired a full-time RCO in June, and the program’s two-person staff, with assistance from the city’s parking patrol, enforces construction rules as well as general municipal code on open construction sites throughout the city. In addition, RCO acts as a liaison between residents, builders and the city, initiating a meeting with the builder prior to issuing a building permit, notifying the neighborhood within a 100-foot radius and organizing a pre-construction on-site meeting between the builder and the neighboring residents.
But a number of residents came before the council Tuesday night, voicing that these efforts fall too short.
“We just went through a summer of hell,” sand section resident Marty Friedman said, explaining that a neighbor’s construction of a basement on his half lot has required approximately 24 steel beams and plates which were “vibrated into the ground.” The process cracked Friedman’s walls and his driveway from the impact.
He’s nervously eying another project across the street—a three-story single family residence on two lots with plans to shore up a full-sized basement.
“I’d really like this stopped until we understand the shoring impacts of basements in the sand area,” Friedman said.
Kaddorah said shoring is not a new phenomenon contrary to popular belief. Since the city’s guidelines on shoring were created some 20 years ago, they have been revised 11 times. He noted it’s a work in progress as staff learns more about the topography of the city, the “geology of what’s happening under the surface” and continue to work with geotechnical engineers.
Resident Karol Wahlberg, a 10-year resident on 15th Street in the sand section, lamented about the lack of oversight on construction sites with regard to keeping streets clean and safe.
“I’ve picked up nails, an unbelievable amount of nails over the last few years,” Wahlberg said. “One in particular must have been a foot long. I’ve had three flat tires in the last year.”
She also suggested major construction be halted on Saturdays—the city’s current construction hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.—as city officers would be unavailable on weekends should an issue arise. Or, the city should consider hiring extra personnel for the RCO program, she said.
Councilmembers Tony D’Errico and Mark Burton suggested additional “quick fixes,” from de-cluttering the list of construction rules to imposing stronger penalties for repeat offenders.
Laurie Jester, the city’s planning manager, told council that staff will return in a “month or two” with a report documenting the suggested changes and items that require further study. The city’s Board of Building Appeals will review city regulations on shoring basements.
