Strengthening the Sea Cliff building inspector's authority
Update would enable building inspector to serve violations
The Village of Sea Cliff has begun the process to amend its village code to grant the building inspector the authority to regulate the working hours of contractors operating within village limits. The plan aims to address mounting concerns about construction disruptions affecting residents’ quality of life.
Mayor Elena Villafane said the motivations behind this legislative change stemmed from an increase in resident complaints regarding construction projects in the last few years.
“We discovered there was a hole in the building department’s authority over the conduct of job sites. Residents were frustrated with contractors parking haphazardly, starting work too early, or continuing late into the evening,” the mayor said. “We needed a mechanism to control these issues effectively.”
During the meeting, trustees and village officials discussed at length the scope and implementation of this new authority. Trustee James Versocki highlighted concerns about the specificity and breadth of the regulations.
“Assume we have a building inspector who goes out and issues a whole bunch of regulations and we have no notice, and it causes a whole tizzy,” Versocki said. “We want the building inspector to be able to enforce reasonable rules, but I think everybody has to know what those rules are.”
Board members debated whether the building inspector should issue broad general provisions or handle regulations on a case-by-case basis. Nick Pinto, the deputy mayor, emphasized the importance of providing clear guidelines, due to concerns that a future building inspector could show favoritism at some sites at the expense of others.
“We don’t want a situation where the regulations vary significantly from one site to another,” Pinto said. “It’s crucial that any rules are uniformly enforced across the village.”
To address these concerns, the board agreed on language that would balance the need for site-specific discretion with overall consistency. The amended code will empower the building inspector to enforce rules related to hours of operation, parking of construction vehicles, and other site-specific issues, while also allowing the Board of Trustees to adopt overarching regulations if necessary.
Bruce Kennedy, the village administrator, suggested removing the term “regulations” from the language to avoid confusion. This change, he argued, would grant the building inspector the necessary authority without overstepping.
Villafane underscored the importance of this potential legislative update, emphasizing that it fills a critical gap in the village’s regulatory framework. While the change would not take effect until after it had been brought to a public hearing, currently scheduled for Aug. 5, she emphasized that if passed it would serve an important role in enabling the office of building inspector to better serve the needs of Sea Cliff’s residents.
“Previously, there was no legislative authority to dictate hours of operation for construction sites,” Villafane said. “Now, we’ll have a clear mechanism to address residents’ concerns.”
The mayor also noted that this change will not be about micromanaging contractors or preventing construction in Sea Cliff but ensuring respectful and considerate conduct on job sites.
“If contractors follow common courtesy, we wouldn’t have these issues,” Villafane said. “Unfortunately, not all do, and we need to protect our residents’ peace and safety.”
Currently the power of the building inspector is limited to merely “asking nicely” according to Villafane. She added that asking nicely would continue to be the first step in any formal request to contractors going forward. The update to the village code would give the office of building inspector “some teeth” to follow up with.
“Then the second time they do it again, we’ll be able to give them a notice of violation, basically saying ‘we’d really like you to cooperate,” Villafane said. “Then if there’s a third time, it will move to a violation, which they’ll have to argue it in court.”
Because the building inspector is unable to issue such warnings, this will not affect any ongoing construction in the village, even retroactively. As the mayor explained, “This is a going-forward process, not a rearview mirror process.”
The public hearing for the potential update to the village code will be held during the board’s regular conference meeting on Aug. 5 at 6 p.m., giving residents the chance to familiarize themselves with the potential change. Should residents support the measure, contractors working in Sea Cliff will need to adhere to the new rules, ensuring that their operations are in line with the village’s standards for respectful and safe conduct.
