Erin and Randy Watkins were not present for their moment of victory, but their efforts did not go unrecognized when Langley Township council approved tougher construction noise restrictions.
A moment before the Nov. 2 vote, councillor Kim Richter extended thanks to the couple for bringing the issue before council.
“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Watkins,” Richter said.
Then council quickly and unanimously approved new rules that will require builders to start later and shut down earlier.
Interviewed after the vote, Erin Watkins called the outcome “amazing” when The Times asked for her reaction.
“Surprised, honestly, that two little people could make that kind of change,” Watkins said.
In May 2014, the couple came to council with a 46-signature paper petition and a 50-signature online petition, asking council to tighten the most permissive noise regulations in the Lower Mainland.
They said they had experienced four years of “constant, constant, constant noise,” from housing construction near their 68 Avenue residence.
The Township noise bylaw, which had not been updated since 1988, allowed construction work between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. every day of the week, including Sundays and holidays.
Randy Watkins, who worked an early shift, said the noise had left him sleep-deprived and stressed.
On one Sunday, he said, an excavator fired up while they were having guests over.
“It was embarrassing,” Watkins said.
He said a search of construction noise limits in other Lower Mainland communities found none as lenient as Langley (a claim that would later be supported by a municipal staff investigation).
The response was not encouraging.
Some members of council were reluctant to tighten the bylaws.
Then-councillor Grant Ward observed that the noise would eventually end, once the housing was finished and then-councillor Bev Dornan worried it would be a bad idea to change the rules in the summer, during what she called “prime building season,” in Langley.
“We walked away feeling really defeated,” Erin Watkins recalls.
But several months later, they read that a staff report to council was recommending shorter hours of construction and an outright ban on Sunday construction unless specific permission was obtained.
When council gave the new rules preliminary approval, they were delighted.
“This is all we ever wanted,” Erin Watkins said.
Now, with final approval, the Township has posted an advisory on the municipal website that alerts residents and builders to “significant changes to construction activity times.”
Construction activity and operation of construction equipment is only allowed between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and is not permitted at all on Sundays or statutory holidays, though exemption can be granted on a case-by-case basis.