OJAI : New Ordinance May Curtail Leaf Blowers

Ojai officials trying to update the city’s 1974 noise ordinance are lending an ear to complaints of hovering helicopters, wind machines, barking dogs and leaf blowers.

Wind machines to protect citrus crops from freezing and helicopters might be out of the city’s reach, Planning Director Bill Prince said. But barking dogs, leaf blowers and other mechanical devices that irritate residents could come under new rules when the ordinance is adopted next year.

The Ojai Planning Commission held a public workshop this week on the draft document. The commission asked Prince to investigate if the city can effectively regulate barking dogs, mechanical devices and public address systems at golf courses and other businesses.

Commissioner David Hirschberg said leaf blowers are used daily for four hours near his home. “They literally drive my wife nuts,” he said.

Ojai resident Bill Noack said he gathered several hundred signatures on a petition to ban leaf blowers four years ago.

Noack said he assumed the former city manager had buried the request because blowers are used in city parks.

Commissioner Marge Fay said she would not support a blower ban. “I think they’re a necessary evil,” she said.