No ban on leaf blowers in Fort Lauderdale — for now
“Our environment is more important than a neat driveway. Banning leaf blowers is not the only answer. This is not a panacea. It’s not the sole cause of waterway pollution. But it’s an attempt to begin the process of cleaning up our environment.”
Mayor Dean Trantalis
FORT LAUDERDALE — A bid by the mayor to ban gas-powered leaf blowers failed to get support Thursday, much to the relief of those who use them.
The ban, an attempt to reduce deafening noise and water pollution, would have applied to both private homeowners and commercial landscapers.
Mayor Dean Trantalis says he’s not giving up on the idea.
“Our environment is more important than a neat driveway,” Trantalis said. “Banning leaf blowers is not the only answer. This is not a panacea. It’s not the sole cause of waterway pollution. But it’s an attempt to begin the process of cleaning up our environment.”
If Fort Lauderdale ends up embracing a ban, it would by the first city in Broward County to do so, Trantalis says.
“I’m not giving up,” he said. “Our waterways are fragile and they are polluted.”
Commissioners said Thursday that they’d rather trim back the hours people are allowed to use the noisy machines, reviled by some for their ear-splitting buzz.
Right now, leaf blowers are allowed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends.
Commissioner Ben Sorensen suggested moving the cut-off time to 5 p.m.
Trantalis floated the idea of a leaf blower ban back in October, prompting landscapers to complain that it would result in rising costs that would be passed on to customers.
Landscaper Kyle Bolger showed up at City Hall to protest the idea, saying a ban would deprive his workers of a critical tool they need to do their job.
“I just find it hard to use a broom in a parking lot on Las Olas behind Big City,” said Bolger, president of Emerald Isle Landscape in Fort Lauderdale. “We literally blow the entire parking lot from one end to the other.”
Trantalis argued that the devices hurt people’s eardrums and soil waterways when garden debris gets blown into the street and winds up in canals, lakes and the Intracoastal Waterway. The lawn cuttings only contribute to harmful algae blooms, Trantalis said.
“I think the commission has been hearing a lot from both sides,” Trantalis said. “So it has created some doubt in each of their minds. I do think it would be important to reach out to find out the pulse of the community and what might work best for Fort Lauderdale.”
Fort Lauderdale, known as the Venice of America for its 165 miles of canals and waterways, would not be the first American city to embrace a ban.
California’s Carmel-by-the-Sea was the first city to ban them in 1975. Since then, more than 100 cities in 15 states have banned leaf blowers or limited the times of day they can be used.
Key Biscayne banned gas-powered blowers in 2018. The town of Palm Beach banned them on properties smaller than an acre in 2017, after years of debating whether to embrace an outright ban.
In Fort Lauderdale, some residents would be happy to never hear that unmistakable buzz and whir ever again, the mayor says.
“People are just completely disgusted with the amount of noise they have to listen to,” Trantalis said. “It’s not just about dumping. It’s about the noise.”