'There's enough noise now': Charlottetown says no to earlier construction work start in the morning

The City of Charlottetown says it will not allow construction work to start one hour earlier in the morning.

Earlier this spring, the Construction Association of P.E.I. had asked the city to change its Nuisance Bylaw to let work beginning at 6 a.m. AT instead of 7 a.m. in the summer.

The request was first discussed at a committee meeting on July 25, but councillors said they wanted to look at what other towns and cities were doing before making a decision.

Last week, the committee decided not to support the change. Coun. Kevin Ramsay, who chaired the committee, said a 7 a.m. start is the norm for towns and cities in the Maritimes.

"We're going to stick with the status quo," Ramsay said. "We checked with everybody around and everybody's in the same page and we figured it would be better.... In all the neighbourhoods, things along that line, there's enough noise now."

Sam Sanderson, general manager with the construction association, said he's disappointed with the decision.

"The simple fact is the demand is so great on the industry that any time we have the potential opportunity to extend, you know, our building day or building week or whatever, it's certainly beneficial," he said.

"We have a huge housing issue. You know, every extra hour every day ... has the potential to make a huge difference."

Sanderson said the early start would be helpful as the weather continues to get hotter, and that lots of workers on jobs sites are ready to go by 6.30 a.m. or earlier.

He said while no municipality wants to be first, having that extra flexibility would have helped.

Stratford and Cornwall don't allow construction to start before 7 a.m. because of noise concerns. 

That's also the case in Moncton and Saint John in New Brunswick.

In Charlottetown, most Islanders CBC spoke to Tuesday said they wouldn't mind the noise in the morning.

"Wouldn't bother me, I get up that early anyways," said Christina Faulker.