MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Construction for the One Beale project is moving along, but not very smoothly for some people who live downtown.
Some are concerned that overnight construction work may be breaking a city ordinance.
Janis Taylor took video of crews working at 4 o’clock Tuesday morning. She says she frequently hears construction work at that time.
“You cannot not hear it. It’s right in front of our building,” Taylor said. “It will knock you right out of bed and of course, with the trucks, you have this incessant beeping that is like a nonstop alarm going off at 4 in the morning.”
Our cameras caught the same thing around 4:30 Tuesday morning.
Without the proper permits, inspectors say the work violates city code. If a violation is found, inspectors can issue a citation up to a summons for the developers to appear in Environmental Court.
The building operations code states work “other than between the hours of 7:00 a.m. And 6:00 p.m. on weekdays and between the hours of 8:00 a.m. And 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays is prohibited, except in case of urgent necessity.”
Taylor says her issue is not the construction, but that it appears someone isn’t following the rules.
“When it starts at 7, you’re going to get up, but when it starts at 4 in the morning — and it’s not just once, it’s happened, I would say, here lately every week.”
She says she’s filed at least five 311 complaints with no response.
We reached out to both the city and county for answers.
After some back and forth we finally spoke to an inspector who said none of the permits for the One Beale project allow work before 7 in the morning.
One of the developers admits crews were out doing concrete work early Tuesday morning and provided this statement that reads in part:
“We remain in close contact on all of these issues with the appropriate parties at the City of Memphis and Shelby County. It is our understanding that everyone has agreed that quickly and efficiently completing this work remains in the neighborhood’s best interest.”
Inspectors say they’re now looking into the construction schedule.
