Bellaire City Council passes new ordinance posed for tidier, safer construction sites

Areas under construction in the city of Bellaire will have stricter rules when it comes to maintaining safe and tidy job sites.

Council members voted unanimously Feb. 20 to update and adopt a new ordinance that will allow building city officials the ability to enforce new requirements.

“The current ordinance is fairly general. But the changes are more specific and aimed at giving the building official more authority to address some of these issues,” said Christian Somers, interim development services assistant director.

That means construction sites will include temporary fencing; stormwater facility protection measures, such as better control of sediment in the street; and silt protection in order to secure construction material and debris. The ordinance will also include properly disposing of trash and a better condition of portable sanitary facilities, according to agenda documents.

“The real genesis of this is: All these job sites with all the loose materials and not using roll-off dumpsters and not emptying them more frequently, represents a real threat, particularly during inclement weather," Somers said.

Council Member Catherine Lewis voted in favor of the ordinance.

“I believe [Development Services] asked a lot of questions and thoroughly vetted these issues ... so I would fully support making these changes,” said Lewis.