APPROVED STAFF DECISION WITH ATTACHMENTS-STF2020-0009-PUD-Noise Variance`'oc. 18yv
CITY OF EDMONDS
121 5ch Avenue North, Edmonds WA 98020
Phone: 425.771.0220 • Fax: 425.771.0221 • Web: www.edmondswa.gov
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT
NOISE VARIANCE STAFF DECISION
Project: Snohomish County PUD —Replace existing overhead electrical with
underground system.
Applicant: Snohomish County PUD, Debra Lawson
File Number: STF2020-0009
Associated Permit(s): ENG2020-0256
Date of Decision: July 30, 2020
Reviewed By: Shane Hope, Development Services Director
Leif Bjorback, Building Official
Jeanie McConnell, Engineering Program Manager
I. INTRODUCTION
The applicant has applied for a noise variance (Attachment 1) for work on multiple Sundays
between the hours of loam — 1 Opm, exact dates are yet to be determined. Work will performed in
three different phases at 202 Main Street. Proposed work will require use of the City right-of-
way and therefore, a separate right-of-way construction permit is required.
The following is staff s analysis and decision on the proposal.
II. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
A. GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Request: The applicant is requesting a noise variance to replace the existing overhead
electrical system, adjacent to 202 Main Street, with an underground system.
2. Review Process: A noise variance is a Type I decision pursuant to ECDC 20.01.003. The
director or his/her designee reviews the project and issues an administrative decision
pursuant to ECDC 20.75.050.C.
3. Project Owners: Snohomish County PUD 41
4. Applicant: Snohomish County PUD, Debra Lawson
5. Location: 202 Main Street
6. Activities, Equipment and Factors: Refer to Attachments 1 and 2
Page 1 of 3
B. 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 ECC Chapter 5.30?
The applicant has indicated performing work during normal daytime hours would result in
power outages to commercial customers, which would negatively impact their respective
businesses. PUD has contacted customers and the consensus of preferred time for the work is
during the day on Sunday or night work. Refer to Attachment 2.
C. PUBLIC SAFETY — Does working at night significantly improve safety conditions for the
traveling public and/or construction workers?
Parking, sidewalk and alley closures adjacent to 202 Main Street will be necessary to perform
the work proposed. Closure during the off-peak hours would result in better conditions for
the public, business owners, and the construction workers.
D. 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?
The work area is within the direct path connecting the core downtown business district to the
waterfront and the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry. While work will not be performed within the
travel lanes, the public sidewalk is heavily used in this area and performing the work outside
of typical business hours will reduce the impact to pedestrians. The adjacent properties are a
mix of commercial and residential uses and as indicated in Attachment 2, the directly affected
customers prefer a Sunday or nighttime outage.
E. PUBLIC COSTS — Does a limited amount of authorized work outside of regular hours
established by this chapter save the public significant cost compared to daytime work?
As indicated by PUD, the proposed work cannot be completed without a power outage.
Performing the work outside typical business hours will reduce the impacts to affected
businesses. In addition, public cost is reduced with the proposal to perform work at night in
that it allows PUD to perform the work more efficiently.
F. NOISE REDUCTION MEASURES — Have all reasonable steps been taken to reduce the
impact of any necessary noise outside the standard hours?
PUD has indicated the underground work will require the use of a vactor and cable pulling
equipment which can cause noise disturbance. Performing the work on a Sunday will reduce
the impact to commercial businesses as well as be less disruptive to night time hours of the
residential customers.
III. DECISION
Based on the Findings of Fact and Conclusions, the following decision is issued by the City of
Edmonds Development Services Department. The noise variance, is APPROVED with the
following conditions:
Page 2 of 3
1. The noise variance is limited to work on a Sunday during the hours of loam-IOpm, excluding
Federal holidays.
2. Notification of work occurring during the aforementioned days/times shall be provided to the
City 48-hrs in advance of work start.
3. Construction activity shall comply with the requirements established under separate right-of-
way construction permit ENG2020-0256.
4. The grant of a variance shall not relieve any person from the requirements of ECC 5.30.130
relating to public disturbance noises.
IV. APPEALS
Type I permit decisions may be appealed by a party of record to Snohomish County superior
court within 21 days of the date of the decision pursuant to ECDC 20.07.006.
V. PARTIES OF RECORD
City of Edmonds
121 5t' Avenue North
Edmonds, WA 98020
Snohomish County PUD A
Debra Lawson
DALawson@snopud.com
PO Box 1107
Everett, WA 98206
VI. ATTACHMENTS
1. Noise Variance Application
2. ROW Permit application, supplemental page
File - STF2020-0009
Jim Lawless, Police Chief
Jeff Whatmore, Engineering Technician
Jennifer Lambert, Engineering Technician
DS Admin
Page 3 of 3
ATTACHMENT 1
AFTER HOURS CONSTRUCTION PERMIT APPLICATION
(Please refer to detailed work plan submitted with ROW Construction application)
Snohomish County PUD WO# 100004907
Overhead to Underground conversion 200 block of Main St., Edmonds
The main purpose of this work is to replace the existing overhead electrical system with an underground
system. This work cannot be done without a power outage. All affected customers have been
contacted and have agreed to the requested outage times. They will be contacted a minimum of (1)
week prior to the start of construction.
The power outage affects both residential and commercial customers. To accommodate business hours
and eliminate negatively affecting commercial customers, PUD is proposing the outages on a Sunday
and weeknight work.
Special Permit Criteria
1- Performing the work during normal working hours would result in power outages to commercial
customers negatively affecting their business.
2-Work will require closing public access to the work areas. For the underground work we will need to
close the alleys between Main St and James St and 2nd Ave and 3rd Ave. Customers who have parking
access through this area have been notified and we can accommodate them with a short wait should
then need access during work times.
As we perform construction, especially during the removal of overhead wire, worksite safety will require
the closure of the following areas. We will only need to close the areas where we are working, they will
not all be closed at once. See TCP's.
• Portions of the parking lane on the south side of Main St between 2nd Ave and 3rd Ave
• Portions of the parking lane on the east side of 2nd Ave south between Main St and James St
• The alleys between 2nd Ave S and 3rd Ave S between Main St and James St
• Portions of the parking lane on the south side of Main St between 15T Ave and 2nd Ave
3- The work area is predominately commercial, but there are some residential customers. Work will not
be on an arterial roadway.
4-There is no cost to customers associated with working outside normal hours.
5- Our crews are aware of the residential customers in the surrounding area. Unfortunately, the
underground work will require a vactor and cable pulling equipment which can cause noise disturbance.
If we are granted our request to work on Sunday, the commercial businesses will be closed, and our
work will not disturb the sleep of residential customers.
ATTACHMENT 2
City of Edmond — ROW permit, supplemental page
Snohomish County PUD WO# 10004907
OH to UG Conversion 200 block of Main St, Edmonds
Description of Proposed Work:
The purpose of this construction is to convert existing overhead (OH) power in the 200 block of Main St
to underground (UG) and to install a transformer for the new Graphite Arts Building (Owner: Mary
Olsen).
This work requires outages effecting both residential and commercial customers. The work cannot be
done without outages. All customers have been contacted and the consensus of preferred time for the
work is a during the day on Sunday or night work.
To minimize outages, this project will be broken into (3) phases:
PHASE 1— REQUESTED WORK TIME: SUNDAY BETWEEN 10AM AND 10PM (exact date TBD) or 7PM TO
7AM ON ANY NIGHT
• Work will take approximately 12 hours
• Outage is estimated to be 10 hours
• TCP 1- work at pole 352
• TCP 2 - contingency plan. Only to be used if work requires boundaries in excess of TCP 1
• TCP 3 — alley closure for worksite safety, truck parking and work on UG vault A-23489
Scope:
Locate, expose and re-route existing UG cable from Pole 352 into existing UG vault A-51292. This will
require cutting possible (2) sidewalk panels and up to 10sf of asphalt on the corner of Main St and the
alley near pole 352. The sidewalk will be filled with gravel after work and alley/roadway repaired with
cold asphalt. This area will be improved during the upcoming construction for Graphite Arts. Final
repairs to the alley/sidewalk will be done by the customer per their construction/building permit from
the City.
Pull cable from A-51292 to A-23489 in existing conduit through the alley and energize underground
system.
This outage will result in loss of power to Meter# 492211. This meter serves street lights owned by the
City of Edmonds. Power will not be restored until the completion of Phase 2. Customer to supply
generator if needed.
PHASE 2 — REQUESTED WORK TIME: SUNDAY BETWEEN 10AM AND 10PM
• Work will take approximately 12 hours
• Outage is estimated to be 3 hours
• TCP 3 — alley closure for truck set up, ground work, installation of transformer, secondary
cabinet and secondary pedestal
Page 1 1
TCP 4 — contingency plan. Only used of we are unable to install the secondary pedestal or locate
conduit from pole 348 from the alley/parking lot
Scope:
Remove cable between UG vault A-23489 and Pole 348
Locate, expose, and re-route conduit in alley from base of Pole 348 to new secondary pedestal for City
streetlight cabinet.
Pull new secondary conductor from streetlight cabinet to secondary cabinet vault
Pull new primary between A-23489 and transformer vault
Set new transformer and secondary cabinet and make connections
Approximately 10sf of asphalt in both the alley intersection and in the alley entrance off 2"d Ave S will
need to be cut. Repairs will be done with cold asphalt. Final repairs to the alley will be done by the
customer per their construction/building permit from the City.
PHASE 3 — REQUESTED WORK TIME: NIGHT WORK BETWEEN 7PM AND SAM (exact date TBD)
(This work cannot be done until all work under Phases 1 and 2 are complete)
• Work will take approximately 10 hours
• No outages
• TCP 5
Scope:
Remove all OH lines and equipment from (5) poles and abandon poles to communications.
This work requires truck set up under each pole and we need to drop wires between poles, including
through the intersection of 2"d Ave and Main St. Closing of intersection will be for approximately 5
minutes. With pedestrian and vehicle safety in mind, we believe a weeknight would be the best time to
perform this work. The work area is predominately commercial, so after hours we expect very light
traffic.
Page 1 2