Massachusetts towns consider leaf-blower laws

[Zenlitened]

From the Boston Globe:

Raking in the noisemakers
Some towns seek to ban gas-powered leaf blowers

By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | September 17, 2007

(snip)

It is a quintessential suburban problem. In the quest for a flawless yard, leaf blowers have become a modern necessity to get a job done efficiently. But with more homeowners and landscapers using them from spring to fall, critics say they have become an ear-shattering nuisance, robbing neighborhoods of cherished quiet. Now, a Newton alderman wants to outlaw gas-powered leaf blowers, joining Cambridge, Lincoln, and other communities around Boston that are considering leaf blower restrictions.

Under the law, it would be "unlawful for any person, including a City employee, to operate any portable gasoline-powered leaf blower within the City limits." The ban would take effect in January 2009. Excluded are electric leaf blowers, which have less power than gas leaf blowers and run more quietly.

Police would be responsible for enforcing the proposed ordinance. Officers could issue warnings and fines of up to $300 to violators.

Around the United States, other cities, including Los Angeles; Aspen, Colo.; and Palo Alto, Calif., have enacted or considered restrictions on gas-powered blowers in the 1990s and more recently despite the objections of landscapers who say it increases costs for their customers.

Newton Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan said he proposed the ban after hearing complaints from residents annoyed by the noise, dust, and exhaust created by the blowers. He also drew from personal experience. Neighbors on three sides of his West Newton home use landscapers to clean and maintain their yards. A lawyer who occasionally works from home, he said the coming and going of landscaping crews using leaf blowers seems to leave a constant cloud of dust, which aggravates his wife's asthma and covers their house and car. He said the air turns blue from exhaust when multiple leaf blowers are running.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/09/17/raking_in_the_noisemakers/

I've had a completely-unscientific hunch for a while that the leaf-blower craze might be linked to the spike in asthma cases. Admittedly, that wouldn't necessarily explain the spike among urban residents. But I look at the greenish-brown haze hanging over my neighborhood some days and think, "Uh... that can't be good for ya." :)

[Erva]

1. Think of the rakes back in business....

:)

[Tyler Durden]

2. Think it might just beat the potential upswing in HEART ATTACKS.

Heavy leaf raking is right up there with snow shoveling in the heart attack demographics for us oldies.

Are you volunteering to rake up the leaves from my lawn, AND the ones from my asshole neighbors who won't rack THEIRS?

I could give two shits about the lawn but the city has ordinances.

[Liberal In Texas]

11. I don't rake leaves. I broom them off the sidewalk/driveway onto the lawn, then mulch them in with

the mower. No waste to haul off and the chopped up leaves help the soil.

[Captain Hilts]

13. If you don't "give two shits about the lawn" why do you have one? nt

[Tyler Durden]

15. REPEAT FROM THE POST: local ordinances.

I do not have the energy or the money (at 54) to have a professionally landscaper turn the front yard into a "Non-Lawn" area as defined by the city.

Besides, I'd still have to get the leaves out of a garden, and it would be even harder.

We could always just hope they get blown off the lawns, down the storm drains, and clog up the antiquated sewage system. I'm sure the wildlife in the overflow river (the Shiawassee) won't mind.

[Captain Hilts]

16. You are required to live in a house with a lawn? nt

[Tyler Durden]

25. Community Yard Neatness Standards.

Think our city council is run by rePIGS?

Well, you're right. See, ABORTION, SUPPORT FOR THE WAR, TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH are more than policy here, they are CIVIC VIRTUES.

Hell, we in our little town had a minister who got DEATH THREATS as late as 2004 for his opposition to the war.

[Captain Hilts]

27. Why don't you live in an apartment WITHOUT a yard? nt

[Tyler Durden]

32. I am at this moment a HOMEOWNER...

There is something going on called "The Real Estate Crisis." The only investment I have left is whatever equity I pull out of this house.

Besides, I don't think I can snag a 3 BR apt (AT LEAST) with a liberal enough pet policy so we don't have to send the pets to the "Doggie Dachau" for anywhere near what my mortgage payment is, even if it was possible to sell, which it's not.

[AllyCat]

3. Good. Get out the dang rake and get some exercise!

I hate those stupid things. Enjoy the fall air and invite the kids over to jump in the piles. Fall is fun!

[Individualist]

17. Good advice for reducing the elderly population

See post #2.

[AllyCat]

24. Post number 2 and I posted at the same time and makes a good point

What I object to is perfectly healthy people out there with those stupid things. I hope MA makes some kind of concession for those who need them. The rest of us can get out the rake and shovel for winter. Remember when we used to hire kids in the neighborhood to do yard work? That would be a great way to give kids something to do, help them earn money, increase neighborly involvement, and end the incessant racket and pollution of those machines.

[Tyler Durden]

26. Those little shits will hit you $40 bucks for a yard my size...

And if I don't pay it, some REAAALLY decrepit person will.

You know what the sound of leaf blowers on MY street usually is? A bunch of us doing the job for some 80-90 year old lady on Social Security for nothing.

I have an electric one, by the way, but the city or a landscaper would just have to start up some big honking GENERATOR to go electric. No diff.

[wicket]

31. Hope you use ear protection Tyler

That's my only concern when I hear people using them around here.

[Tyler Durden]

33. Of course.

got those little squeezy ear plugs.

As long as we live in towns and cities, this shit is going to go on. That's a reason I'm planning to blow off town when I get this house paid off in about 10 years.

[wicket]

36. Cool!

Those work great :hi:

[DS1]

35. You and poster#2 are still allowed to have electric blowers

[kwyjibo]

4. Leafblowing is such an annoying, futile task

We lived perfectly well for a long time without these things, I think we can do without them now.

[DS1]

5. YES!

Gawd I love this state

[jojo54]

6. I don't know about out lawing them altogether, but

they can be a nuisance. Take for instance, my neighborhood......the idiot across the street is blowing leaves IN THE DARK, and uses the leaf blower to blow SNOW FROM THE SIDEWALK! This is extreme, but true.

[durrrty libby]

7. The decibels on those things are quite high. I have no doubt they

cause hearing loss.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

8. JUST LIKE POOPING ON YOUR NEIGHBORS FRONT PORCH

AN INSANE SELFISH HABIT.

OH, HOW REPBLICAN

[truebrit71]

9. Yeah because the cops don't have enough on their plate framing innocent people as it is...

..they'd have to take a break from violating folks civil rights to write those tickets....

Coming to a newspaper near you soon "Leaf-blower scofflaw tasered by police"

What a colossal friggin' waste of time...

[Liberal In Texas]

10. Good. Leaf blowers are a nusiance and unnecessary.

Ban them everywhere.

[Captain Hilts]

12. I wish Bethesda-Chevy Chase would do the same. Foul machines. nt

[eppur_se_muova]

14. Converting fossil fuels to greenhouse gases AND noise pollution ...

people have a problem with that ? :evilgrin:

Seriously, these should be banned from all college campuses, at the very least. Talk about interrupting classes.

[XemaSab]

51. You forgot particulates n/t

[eppur_se_muova]

55. Mmmm ... sooty. nt

[Katherine Brengle]

18. Good. Leaf blowers are stupid anyway - they just mess up someone else's space

or the street.

[frylock]

19. people will also complain when their landscapers jack up their rates..

to make up for the extra time it will take to sweep all those drives and sidewalks.

[bunkerbuster1]

21. Won't be much of a hike...

They'll just use electric blowers, which are pretty effective, just not as easy to use (you have to drag around an electrical cord.)

[Beelzebud]

20. We already have too many stupid laws, lets not add another.

[Lars39]

22. They contribute to noise pollution,imo.

They're way too loud.

[Beelzebud]

23. I have train tracks near my house. Can we ban all trains please? kthx

[XOKCowboy]

40. Do you really think that's a good analogy?

:shrug:

[Captain Hilts]

28. Like lawnmowers they also pollute the air more than cars. nt

[GoneOffShore]

29. Mmmmmm

:popcorn:?

[Zenlitened]

44. LOL!! By the way, is it okay if I smoke in here? :)

And just let me know if the breast-feeding bothers you.

:yoiks:

[GoneOffShore]

54. As long as you don't let the pit bull off the leash.

And have you got any fried chicken? With a corn flake crust?

[wicket]

30. I just hope the people who use them use ear protection

SO loud it can't be good for long periods of time.

[porphyrian]

34. Way to identify what's most important, Massachussets!

:eyes:

A year from now, they'll be complaining about the rising costs of landscaping.

[XOKCowboy]

39. I think it's great. Using fossil fuels to blow leaves is STUPID!

Besides being noisy the idea of using a 2 stroke engine to replace a rake is totally irresponsible in light of Global Climate Change. It's a small step in the right direction. I hope it passes.

[porphyrian]

41. Oh, come on. Do you really think blowers are even in the top fifty polluters?

This isn't even as effective as pissing on a wildfire.

[XOKCowboy]

49. How many gas leaf blowers do you think have been sold in the last few years?

100,000? 500,000? More?? All to blow leaves into the gutter or onto someone else's yard, all of them noisy and all of them putting out more pollution than cars.

I still say a rake achieves the same purpose only more efficiently.

[porphyrian]

50. They are not putting out more pollution than cars.

One may individually produce more pollution in a short time than some cars, but you can't possibly believe they are run as much or in even close to the same numbers as cars. Again, come on.

And I'm not defending leaf blowers, I'm saying it's ridiculous to get so panty-wadded over them while so many other sources of exponentially-worse pollution go unaddressed, apparently because they don't make enough noise to irritate people at home. This is like beating up a petty thief while the murderers go free and continue to kill. Really, come on.

[warren pease]

56. Ahhhh porphyrian... we agree on so much, and yet...

...there's this little tidbit from back in 2000:

<snip>

A 2000 report by the California EPA determined that the average residential leaf blower produces 145 times more hydrocarbons, 7.5 times more carbon monoxide, and 11 times more particulate matter in one hour than a 1999-2000 light duty vehicle driven at 30 mph, getting 15 miles to the gallon. The hydrocarbon emissions produced from one-half hour of residential leaf blower operation are equal to the emissions produced from driving 2200 miles, comparable to a round trip from Denver to San Diego. Commercial leaf blowers with more horse power are even more polluting.

Pollution from dust and debris is also a significant issue. Leaf blowers' powerful engine jets have the unintended consequence of disturbing and suspending smaller particulate matter such as dust, fecal matter, pesticides, fungi, chemicals, fertilizers, spores, and street dirt that consists of lead and organic and elemental carbon, according to the California EPA.

</snip>

Full report here: http://tinyurl.com/2ea2s6

And the goddamned noise! I've got this asshole of a neighbor who's got just about every single piece of ear-shattering gas-powered equipment available to the modern, conscience-less home owner. Blowers (2), pressure washer (he recently spent two days washing his driveway; I came over and asked if I could eat dinner on it, since it seemed cleaner than my kitchen table), lawn mowers (2) -- one for cutting to normal length, the other to take it down to putting green caliber, and my personal favorite, his Stihl chainsaw with a 20' bar, which he uses to prune his hedge every couple of weeks. All except the mowers are two-strokes, which sound like a swarm of giant mosquitoes, even inside my very well-insulated house. I had to get a pair of deadphones just to be able to read in relative peace in my own house because of this asshole.

Did I mention he's a BushBot? Should go without saying. Anyone that pathological about lawns and leaves, and anyone with so little concern for others that the rest of the neighborhood can take a flying fuck so he can wash every minute pebble in the exposed aggregate of his driveway, just has to be a fucking republican.

So please reconsider. Leaf blowers are one of the prime scourges of modern life. Rakes or brooms do just as well and don't cause everyone within earshot to reach for the shotgun.


wp

[XemaSab]

52. Here's a link:

http://aqmd.gov/news1/2006/leafblowerexchangepr.html

"In one year, the average two-stroke backpack leaf blower emits as much pollution as 80 new cars.”

[porphyrian]

53. That quote is in reference to the old two-stroke blowers, not the ones sold now.

The same could be said about old boat motors or old lawnmower engines. However, this still pales in comparison to, say, a single coal burning energy plant, or by a year of diesel-burning semi shipping.

[madinmaryland]

37. Its one thing to use them for cleaning up leaves, which is maybe two-three

times in the fall. But the morans who use them after every lawn mowing are idiots. The just end up blowing dust everywhere. It's horrible in the spring in allergy season.

:grr:

[Zenlitened]

43. Yep, that's my complaint, too. Use a broom on that handful of grass clippings!

:D

[orleans]

38. GREAT!!! i wish my fucking town would ban those pieces of shit! n/t

[goodgd_yall]

42. I imagine this time of year it really gets unbearable.

They are awfully noisy, and the dust they blow about is a health hazard for people with respiratory conditions. The restrictions are a good thing.

[ieoeja]

45. I used to use a leaf blower.

My friends used to kick back with a beer and heckle me. It was heavy and bulky, took about ten times longer than raking, and left considerably more leaves stuck on the ground.

[blues90]

46. They should ban all these gas powered lawn crap

The tried this here in S calif but the tears flowed and still these things have not only gotten louder but there are more of them at all days of the week . Think about all the crap that lands on lawns and sidewalks including but not limited to dried dog shit all blown into the air on a daily basis .

No one can tell me that even lawn mowers can't have a muffler that is larger and quiet , they ahve not changed in decades .

Talk about noise pollution and filth . Add these car alarms to the list too while their at it . I am so sick of all these noise machines that idiots buy and annoy everyone .

I instead of or on top of a fine these blower users should be loaded into a circus cannon and shot into space .

[Wilderness Sportsman]

47. Couldn't agree more

Suburbia really specializes in creating wasteful tools for small yards. Use a rake.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

48. Mostly I use my leaf blower for cleaning gutters..

Takes a nasty, all-day-on-a-ladder job and turns it into a fairly safe forty five minute one.

It's a lot more efficient to mulch leaves with the mower than either blowing them or raking them.