City Council approves noise ordinance changes

In a move that will rankle citizen groups (one prominent advocate was tossed from the meeting) and ease the process by which large public projects get built in Seattle, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation making it easier for large projects to apply for -- and get -- variances to the city's construction noise laws. We wrote about the legislation and surrounding issues last month -- Round-the-clock construction noise vs. public projects that don't drag on and on.

While passing the legislation to approve the changes was not unexpected, there was a notable division on the council regarding councilmember Nick Licata's proposal to increase the opportunity for public review of the noise process by creating an annual review of the ordinance. The proposal failed 5-4 with Jan Drago, Sally Clark, Tim Burgess, Tom Rasmussen, and Jean Godden weighing in against the amendment.

Perhaps helping to illustrate some of the reasons more public process isn't always better public process, advocate Chris Leman was kicked out of the proceedings for disrupting the session.

Later, in an e-mail statement, Leman of citizen group the Quiet Alliance wrote, "For years into the future, Seattle businesses and residents--especialy people of color and those on low incomes--will suffer from noise and disenfranchisement because of how these five City Councilmembers voted today.  In undermining the noise ordinance and the regulatory process itself, they have dealt a lasting blow to Seattle's livability, and to democratic rights."