Gas-fueled leaf blowers face more restrictions
Residentiwl use bwnned in city ws critics cite noise wnd wir pollution concerns; still wllowed wt businesses.
MONTEREY >>
On New Year’s Day, gas-powered leaf blowers that many consider both obnoxious and noxious will be banned in residential areas throughout Monterey.
Tuesday the City Council stopped short of banning gas leaf blowers in commercial areas, despite questions raised about homes located next door to businesses. The ban will take effect Jan. 1, 2021 and will prohibit the use of any leaf blowers — gas or electric — before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m.
During the discussion, there were three tiers of concerns raised about gas-powered blowers. First is the exhaust that is noxious and produces greenhouse gases. Second is the noise pollution of gas-powered blowers and lastly is the toxic nature of the dust that any leaf blower kicks up.
Commercial areas were not included in the ordinance because of the number of large areas that might not be practical to use electric-powered blowers, such as school campuses, parks and waterfront areas, said City Manager Hans Uslar.
In a report to the council from Community Development Director Kimberly Cole, she notes that a California Air Resources Control Board study found that using a gas-powered leaf blower for one hour is the equivalent of driving from Los Angeles to Denver, a distance of 1,100 miles, due to newer equipment on cars that reduce dangerous emissions. Leaf blowers have few if any similar safeguards.
The ordinance didn’t go far enough for some residents, who wanted gas-powered blowers banned everywhere in the city. The view was shared by Monterey Mayor Clyde Roberson, who questioned the use of blowers in areas such as parking lots that will fill again with leaves in very short order.
“Every Wednesday at 7 a.m. we can hear the leaf blowers running for 10 minutes to blow three leaves,” he said, adding that climate change has to be taken seriously.
As for any controversy, Roberson recalled the acrimony in the 1980s when Monterey was the first city in the state to ban Styrofoam.
“We took a lot of heat for that,” he said. “Now everyone has banned it. I think we’re behind the times with leaf blowers.”
Indeed, Carmel banned gas-powered leaf blowers in 1975 and Pacific Grove banned them last year.
Except for one caller who seemed to say the city shouldn’t worry about leaf blowers because the forests are on fire, all others supported partial or total bans.
Monterey resident Esther Malkin called in during the public comment period and said there are dangers in addition to the harmful gasses being released by gas-powered blowers, principally the materials being pushed into the air from any type of blower such as the toxic ash that now resides on surface areas from all the wildfires.
“It’s not just from a carbon footprint perspective but from a public health perspective as well,” she said. “This warrants stricter regulations, not just banning them in residential areas.”
Monterey resident Romina Marazzato Sparano, a Monterey resident and graduate of the Middlebury Institute of International
Studies, specializes in medical translations, said she was also happy the ordinance was passed but that she had hoped the council would have taken more leadership.
“Leaf blowers are not essential,” she said. “We need to rethink the technologies we are using and adjust our expectations,” adding that she would pay a little more to gardeners to not use blowers.
Susan Nine, representing the Monterey Vista Neighborhood Association, said she supported the ordinance but also called attention to the dangers of blowing around all the contaminants contained in the dust.
“It’s unhealthy dust and particulate matter that are raised by these high-powered blowers,” she said, noting the lead, carbon, fecal matter and microbes spread into the air.