Request letter.pdfDate: March 8, 2019
To: Shane Hope, City of Edmonds, Director, Developmental Services
From: Mark Flury, Snohomish PUD, Distribution Engineering Services
Subject: City of Edmonds Noise Ordinance Variance Request
Snohomish PUD Distribution Engineering Services is requesting of City of Edmonds Developmental
Services that the PUD be granted administrative permission to allow electrical service construction
activity to be done on a Sunday between the hours of 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM to serve City of Edmonds
Commercial customers noted below. This request constitutes a variance request in accordance with
Edmonds Community Code 5.30.110.
Name of Affected Customers: *Please see attached Word document.
Location of Work to be conducted: 555 Dayton St
Anticipated Duration of Outage Needed for This Work: 6 to 9 hours (approximately).
Date Range Within Which Work To Be Conducted: Any Sunday. Hours of work will be between 8:00 AM
to 6:00 9M for a 6 to 9 hour duration as described above.
Requested Variance Action Target Date: TBD.
This request for a variance exemption is submitted for the following reasons:
1. To complete the work described above with minimal disruption to the affected commercial
businesses' normal operating hours this work needs to occur on a Sunday during day time hours.
2. This work, when done during day time hours will avoid significant disruption of normal traffic,
resident's normal activities or other customer needs and reduce public inconvenience.
3. Public safety is enhanced by scheduling this work during day time hours when fewer customers
of affected businesses are walking or driving in the vicinity of the planned work.
4. The PUD will undertake the above described work in a manner to limit the necessary noise to
the minimum level attainable with the equipment to be used. Verbal communications among
PUD crew members during conduct of the work will be made with quiet noise levels in mind.
5. The PUD's strategy includes completing advance preparatory work without an outage and with
minimal impact to traffic and other business activities during normal daytime work hours.
Variance Submittal Contact Person:
Project Engineer (Andrea Nelson), Distribution Engineering Services, Snohomish PUD: 425.783.4394;
ajnelson@snopud.com
Mark Flury, Distribution Engineering Services, Snohomish PUD:
425.783.1722; mmflury@snopud.com.
C. Variances shall be processed as a Type 1 permit procedure under ECDC 20.01.003.6, while using the criteria found in subsection
A of this section. Factors to be b0anced in the process include those identified as follows:
1. Public convenience —Will the work result in significant delays for transportation, services, or other customer needs if done only
during the day and within the hour restrictions set out in other parts of this chapter?
2. Public Safety —Does working outside of normally allowed significantly improve safety conditions for the traveling public and/or
construction workers?
3. Public exposure — What will be the setting for any proposed work outside of regular hours? Is it located on an arterial street or in
a mostly residential area?
4. Public cost — Does a limited amount of authorized outside of regular hours established by this chapter save the public
significant cost compared to daytime work?
5. Noise reduction_measures -- Have all reasonable steps been taken to reduce the impact of any necessary noise outside the
standard hours? Answering this question needs to include evaluation of (1) limiting the nighttime or early morning work to only
that necessary to reasonably mitigate the issues identified above, (2) use of quiet generators and quiet pumps (as available),
(3) drilling and placing of piles instead of driving them, as well as use of other techniques, design choices, and acoustic control
equipment and strategies necessary to minimize the night-time or early morning impacts from construction noise.
Public convenience: Yes. To complete the work with minimal disruption to the 20+ commercial
businesses' normal operating hours, this work needs to be done on a Sunday during the day
time hours.
Public safety: Yes. Public safety is enhanced by scheduling the work during day time hours on a
Sunday when the commercial business are closed and there are fewer people walking or driving
in the vicinity of the planned work. It will also avoid the disruption of normal traffic that these
business produce and is the best way to reduce public inconvenience.
Public exposure: It minimizes exposure. Traffic control permits have already been obtained from
the City of Edmonds and sidewalk will be closed.
4. Public cost: Yes. It will help costs of the affected commercial businesses by disrupting their
power when they are closed, as opposed to in the middle of the day Monday thru Saturday
during their peak hours of operation.
5. The PUD will undertake the described work in a manner to limit the necessary noise to the
minimum level attainable with the equipment to be used. Verbal communications among PUD
crew members during conduct of the work will be made with quiet noise levels in mind.