UPDATE 4/24/2020 –
Today, Governor Jay Inslee lifted most restrictions on residential and commercial construction, allowing low risk construction projects to resume with additional safety precautions.
Mayor Greg Hansen is grateful that the Governor has listened to our repeated requests to restart construction in a safe and responsible way and this is a good start. For full details of the safety requirements, please see the guidelines available here. For questions about individual projects, please see Community Development Director Haylie Miller at HaylieMiller@cityofferndale.org or 360-685-2367.
April 20th, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Following consultation with the state and local officials, the City of Ferndale is releasing updated residential and commercial construction guidelines to help applicants complete projects already in process. These clarifications are consistent with the Governor’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order but may allow for some construction activity to continue within these guidelines.
“Our first goal is to keep everyone safe,” said Community Development Director Haylie Miller, “and the best way to do that is for construction sites not to be active. That said, we understand that many projects were stopped immediately upon the Governor’s order which leaves the location vulnerable to theft, vandalism, deterioration and spoilage. We want to help prevent those impacts.”
Since the beginning of the Governor’s order, the City of Ferndale has worked on a near-daily basis with state and local officials to clarify the meaning of the order. “We needed more than just the word ‘spoilage’ as a guidepost for what to greenlight,” said Mayor Greg Hansen. “We needed details and legally sound policy. I’m proud of our staff clarifying these details so that they can help our construction industry secure these locations in a safe and legally sound way.”
All construction activity that is moving forward during the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order must adhere to the guidelines detailed below, including vigorous sanitation and social distancing measures and must confine their construction activities to those which prevent spoilage and protect the site.
For more details, see the full construction guidelines available on the city website here and for questions, please contact Community Development Director Haylie Miller at HaylieMiller@cityofferndale.org or (360) 685-2367.