The blower and the fury
Tempers rise as Newton puts summer-long ban on loud landscaping tool
Landscapers who work in Newton are revved up over a summertime ban on noisy gas-powered leaf blowers that’s set to complicate their work in the city.
“I can’t believe it’s gotten this far,” said Mark Cappadona, a landscaper with clients in Newton. “There are better cases than leaf blowers if you want to make an impact on the world.”
The measure, a decade in the making, bans gas leaf blowers from use from Memorial Day to Labor Day and requires the devices to have labeling that shows they comply with the noise limit of 65 decibels.
A handful of area landscapers gathered last night in the basement of the American Legion Post 444 in Newton to grumble about the new ordinance, swap tips to boost the power of their leaf blowers and mull their legal options to fight the measure. The group declined to comment on what action they might take. City Councilor Alison Leary said the battle over the landscaping tool started in 2007 and gained some ground years later when the city lowered the decibel limit from 77 to 65. In her eyes, changes in Newton have made it more reliant than ever on landscaping contractors. “What has happened over the last 10 years, Newton has got more affluent, more two-family houses, not as many people do their own lawn care, and more and more landscapers coming into neighborhoods,” she said. “It’s not just one landscaper, once a week. one comes, then it’s 20 minutes later another one.”
The seeming constant drone of leaf blowers prompted complaints and set off a heated process with the city to cut back on the noise.
“We spent the better part of two years listening to testimony, talking to experts, looking at what other towns did, hearing from landscapers who basically said, ‘ we don’t want to change anything,’ ” Leary said.
“We have literally raised taxes with less trouble,” she added.
The city council voted 20-4 in mid-January to pass the ordinance. The labeling portions took effect right away and the gas ban starts this year on Memorial Day — May 29.
Newton residents had mixed views on the new restriction.
Richard Ivers said the leaf blowers are not too much of a nuisance to do anything that could ax a job for someone.
“They have to make a living,” Ivers said. “It’s a little annoying but not enough to put someone out of a job.”
Rene Cheung has his eyes on whether the ordinance causes a price hike for landscaping.
“Without leaf blowers you have to pay three to four times the money,” he said.
Brandon Ladeau understands how the noise could ruin an afternoon, especially for his newborn daughter. “I can see when it could be an annoyance,” Ladeau said.
The rub, he said, would be if you just bought a shiny, new gas-powered blower to keep your lawn clear of leaves and clippings, only for this new law to put it out of commission.