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Show TTDaeWaiy.il See Hit They hammer in the morning, they hammer in the evening ... m "The Way I See It" is a forum for guest opinions from members of the community. These opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Park Record staff . by David Chaplin Whose town is it anyway? There appears to be a body of opinion that Park City is the primary province of the developer contractor and his associates. Consider: A City Council public hearing which is interrupted at irregular but frequent intervals with the staccato, anti-aircraft-like eruptions of huge trucks braking their way down Marsac Avenue; Being awakened at 6:15 a.m. of a Saturday morning by a concrete pumper truck jockeying for position while two or three concrete delivery trucks wait impatiently nose to tail at high idle and roll their loads; Waiting behind two seven-foot tall four-wheel drive pickup trucks stopped side by side going opposite directions in the middle of the street, the drivers discussing who knows what subcon-tractorial subcon-tractorial strategies; The newly-built road from upper Deer Valley to Ontario Canyon hammered into an undulating series of potholes, not by the oft blamed freeze-thaw cycles (there was nary a blemish in May), but by the parade of fully laden dump trucks and heavy equipment haulers; Finding access to a residential house immediately across from a monumental (it would do downtown L.A. proud) excavation blocked by equipment and contractor's vehicles, not to mention the workmen lounging on the steps to the house. It is with sincere concern for my community that I make these observations. observa-tions. I realize that a number of these offerings will offend some of my dearest and most respected friends and acquaintances, and to them, I must say that the local contractors have shown much more sensitivity than those who cart the money out of town. Were these thoughts directed at builders who were creating a place in which they themselves would live and work I would hold my peace. The reality is that these noises emanate not so mucn from the provision of a facility for the community but rather from J development of property for profit. A well-respected public official, in responding to an inquiry about the instrusion into the peace of the citizenry by construction activity, had some (if my understanding of this official's remarks is correct) most distressing thoughts about dealing with these intrusions. The first remark was that, like it or not, we live in a construction zone; as though the original city planners (were there such) ordained that Park City would forever be under construction, and that anyone foolish enough to move to this fair community should quite naturally expect to be surrounded by dump trucks and backhoes and plan never to spend a full day enjoying the normal quiet of a small resort community. When I moved here in 1963 nobody informed me, and I now have a difficult time believing that the "Great Construction Zone Myth" need be accepted. (Taxes I am able to accept.) Another response made by this official was that government should stay out of the people's lives. Government, therefore, should be excused from its often-reviled role in planning, licensing and otherwise overseeing the protection of the community from the contractors. I, for one, have to believe that the best interest of the citizens should take precedence over additional profit by businessmen, even if it means government govern-ment regulation. The third response by this official which I found hard to swallow was that if a construction crew was interfering with the welfare of a neighbor, that neighbor should enter into negotiations with the contractor to determine his hours of operation and the nature of the equipment to be used at a particular time of day. Can you just imagine the conversation between two contractors over coffee: "My neighbors won't let me start digging until ten o'clock, but we can do some nailing at eight-thirty on Wednesdays." Wed-nesdays." Says his companion, "My neighbor and I worked out a deal which would let us begin pouring concrete at seven-thirty on Tuesdays and Thursdays Thurs-days if we don't begin with the backhoe and crane until they leave for church on Sunday." "Really?" says the first, "maybe you could come over and see if you could work out a deal with my neighbors so that we could use the front loader after dark." And so on. My point is this: why must we allow an industry to be self-regulating whose very nature creates intrusion of a very significant nature into the lives of those as far away as a half mile? Perhaps this is another of those difficult issues with which our government govern-ment does not wish to deal until public distress makes such a noise that it cannot be ignored. Perhaps our elected officials are so sympathetic (that's a nice way to put it, isn't it?) with the construction industry that they feel uncomfortable designing any regulations regula-tions without measurable demand from the constituency. When I find it necessary to leave my home to find the peace of environment for which I moved to Park City in the first place, I have to wonder how much is enough? The roaring of machinery in my neighborhood has been virtually constant from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. and later since the second week in June. Great hope stirred in me when I heard that the City Council in its wisdom was to consider a limitation on the instrusion to the work in my studio. But, alas, government has no province where the mighty backhoe reigns. Rather than continuing to carp about the lost summer, I offer the following recommendations for official consideration consider-ation through the coming "Limited Construction Season," known elsewhere else-where as winter: 1. That heavy equipment excavation and crane operation be done only between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. 2. That concrete pouring trucks and equipment observe the hours listed in No. 1. 3. That in residential neighborhoods or in areas bordering on residential zones, workmen not arrive on the construction site until 8 a.m. and cease operations at 5:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. 4. That plywood and concrete forms be carried and placed instead of thrown. Other regulations and limitations imposed upon the constructors should address the intent of this question: is the purpose of a town for living in? ... for working in? ... how do we give the town back to the residents? After all, whose town is it? Rick Brough, who writes the column "Whaddya Know" which usually occupies this space, is on vacation. He is due back next week. |