The Issaquah City Council unanimously voted to change the city’s municipal code IMC 16.35 Construction Hours and IMC 3.64.010 Fees Imposed at the Sept. 6 meeting.

The changes included the creation of an application fee for Class 1 and Class 2 Expanded Work Hours permit applications, an appeals process for applicants and members of the public, higher penalties for those who violate construction regulations and a “more predictable process” for Expanded Work Hours applications.

Economic and Development Services Director Keith Niven called the bill “one of the most strictest proposals” for expanded work in comparison to other cities in the area, where Saturday work is allowed with no barriers.

“This is one way that the city can do something to actually kind of rein in development,” Niven said.

Niven said that the code’s previous $500 fine for violating hours was “not a deterrent to some contractors from actually getting additional work done.” As a response, the Land and Shore committee created three classifications of applications and added different violation penalties for each. The penalties range from $500 for a Class 0 first violation to $10,000, a Stop Work Order and a permit revocation for a Class 2 third violation.

Class 0 applications, which are exempt from Expanded Work Hours application fees, include small projects by homeowners that total under $15,000.

The council’s Sept. 6 decision amended the original agenda bill, which had also included the extension of regular weekday construction work by one hour during the dry months, April through October. This would put the construction day as lasting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., rather than ending at 6 p.m. The idea behind this was that increasing work by a little each day could help a project to be finished faster in the long run.

“That extra hour … may be one less month of disruption,” Niven said.

However, council members were not on board with the idea of a longer construction day during the summer months.

“That is really unfair to the residents … to me it just didn’t seem appropriate to add that hour all through the summer, all through the period of time that you can use your backyard, you can have your windows open … it just didn’t seem right,” Councilmember Mary Lou Pauly said.

“I found myself struggling with that 6 [p.m.] to 7 [p.m.] … Being able to be out in your backyard having a barbecue … just to have that reprieve during the dinner hour is I think really important and has an impact on the residential areas,” Councilmember Mariah Bettise said.

After back-and-forth debate, it was Councilmember Tola Marts who introduced an amendment for construction hours to keep the status quo of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. He appreciated the bill’s attempt to curb development, but said that it is important to “try to manage [development] in a civilized way.”

“Keeping it to 6 p.m. is a way to integrate that development with less of an impact … to quality of life in the city,” he said.

Council President Stacy Goodman questioned whether construction would even stay within the boundaries of the proposed new work hours.

“I don’t have any confidence that it would cut right off at 7 [p.m.], I think it could eek past 7 [p.m.],” she said.

When asked by Councilmember Paul Winterstein whether any data showed that the longer work days would decrease the amount of expanded work done on Saturdays, Niven said that the calculations had not been done to find out if they would.

“The effect of this could be unknown until we actually see it because we don’t have a detailed analysis of past practices and what this would do,” Winterstein said.

The amendment passed unanimously.