Ian Phillips and his wife moved to a house on Myles Mansell Road in Langford, off Walfred Road, two years ago and since then has seen the neighbourhood being built up around him.
Blasting happening nearby over the summer has not only been noisy, he said, but has created a lot of dust. The City of Langford was good about a sending a water truck over to clean up the road when asked, he added, but the dust continues to get into their house and covers his car. A decades-long resident of Langford, Phillips said he’s happy with a number of the changes happening in the city, but wants it to stand behind residents more when issues like this come up.
“It’s not an ‘us versus them’ (situation), it’s a ‘let’s look at this holistically and find something we can all live with.”
Phillips suggested developers should consult with residents more and make gift cards available for house cleanings and car washes where dust from construction activities impacts those living nearby.
Coun. Lillian Szpak pointed to mounting resident concerns of a similar nature when she introduced a notice of motion at the Aug. 15 council meeting asking that the city consider a dust regulation bylaw.
Asked during the meeting how current regulations relate to the problem, Langford director of engineering Michelle Mahovlich said the development permit process enables the city to request a dust control management plan from builders. Complaints brought to the city would be followed up with an engineering technician visit to the site and a conversation with developers, she added.
Dust regulation is also covered under the city’s soil removal bylaw, which requires anyone moving soil – with the exception of single-family dwellings where less than 300 cubic metres of soil is shifted – to provide a dust control plan to the city, among other things.
Langford council plans to discuss the matter further at its Sept. 6 meeting, when it will vote on whether to direct staff to draft a new bylaw.
RELATED: No construction noise exemptions yet granted in Langford
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