Concerns About Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Again Reach High Pitch

In the canyons of Pacific Palisades, residents have taken to stuffing towels on window sills and door jams to keep dust from gasoline-powered leaf blowers from invading their homes.

In Hancock Park, a homeowners group is organizing a telephone complaint line to keep track of dozens of gripes from members about the blowers’ high-pitched snarl.

And at Los Angeles City Hall, the air brooms continue to rank as a major source of irritation among constituents who write letters and make phone calls complaining to council members.

“I have had six calls today from people who don’t even live in our district,” said Glenn Barr, an aide to Councilman Marvin Braude. “From the perspective of complaints we get, it is reaching critical mass. People are at the point where they don’t want to deal with this anymore.”

Last week, Braude responded to the complaints by introducing a motion that industry officials say would effectively ban gas-powered leaf blowers in Los Angeles. The measure, which has been referred to the council’s environmental committee, would reduce the maximum noise permitted by the blowers from 65 decibels to 60 decibels. (A busy street may generate 70 to 80 decibels of noise.)

“The continual use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers is a nuisance in our city and a terrible imposition on the peace and quiet its residents want to enjoy,” Braude said in announcing his proposal.

The measure is intended to force gardeners to return to traditional rakes and push brooms or convert to electric blowers, which city officials said are far less noisy than their gas-powered counterparts.

Most gas-powered leaf blowers generate more than 60 decibels and would not be able to comply with Braude’s proposed ordinance, according to the Police Department, which enforces city noise ordinances.

“There is something about the noise level of the gasoline-powered leaf blower that gets to everyone and drives them mad,” said Joan Graves, who co-chairs a group of Pacific Palisades residents advocating a ban on the machines. “I don’t know what it is. I would like a scientist to explain it to me. Lawn mowers don’t do it, even tree trimmers don’t do it. It is the leaf blower that just drives you out of your mind. It is just torturous.”

Braude’s proposal has raised the ire of Southern California’s gardening profession, which has seen a growing number of cities impose restrictions on the machines in recent years.

Several weeks ago, the city of Claremont approved a ban on gas-powered blowers beginning in February, and last month Irvine officials began licensing the machines and requiring safety classes for their operators. Other cities across the region, from Beverly Hills to Lomita, have either banned the blowers or restricted their use.

“That equipment is the livelihood of the gardeners,” said Bill Kondo, executive secretary of the Southern California Gardeners Federation, which represents about 3,500 professional gardeners. “Yes, we are going to oppose it. We are meeting Saturday to discuss it.”

The federation, joined by other industry groups, killed a similar effort to ban the blowers in Los Angeles four years ago. At that time, dozens of homeowner groups opposed to the blowers were unable to overcome objections by gardeners and manufacturers that the measure would have a devastating economic impact on the city’s largely minority gardening industry.

At that time, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky sponsored legislation that would have prohibited gasoline-powered blowers in residential areas, but he was unable to garner enough votes for it on the City Council. Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, who helped defeat the Yaroslavsky motion, said the debate was about nothing more than affluent homeowners not wanting to be disturbed by “good, honest” gardeners trying to earn a living.

Kondo said gardeners need the blowers because they are faster and more efficient than push brooms, and he said it is often too difficult to find a power source for electric models. “What do you do if nobody is home and there is no outside outlet?” he asked.

Although Kondo said his group intends to fight Braude’s proposal, the ultimate fate of the blowers may actually be taken out of the city’s hands. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is expected to recommend next month that a ban on all leaf blowers--gasoline and electric--be included in the agency’s 1991 clean air plan.

AQMD spokesman Tom Eichhorn said the blowers pollute the air by stirring up dust and dirt. The gasoline-powered blowers, moreover, produce exhaust emissions, he said.

Barr, Braude’s aide, said the councilman was aware of the AQMD proposal but decided to move forward with a city ban anyway. He said there is no guarantee that the AQMD recommendation ultimately will be included in the clean air plan, and he said it could be years before such a restriction would take effect.

“Most of our constituents aren’t willing to wait,” Barr said. “The noise is driving them up the wall.”