A Ban on Leaf Blowers?

I live in the San Fernando Valley and would like to respond to two issues, one addressed by John B. Hart of Woodland Hills.

Mr. Hart speaks of the health hazard presented by leaf blowers. I would like to address an additional health hazard of these machines: noise pollution.

I live in a neighborhood in North Hills where all day, seven days a week, some gardening crew is in our neighborhood making liberal use of leaf blowers. A few weeks ago, gardeners showed up across the street at 6:15 a.m. and used a leaf blower until 7:30 a.m. The noise level from these machines causes serious health concerns, both physical and emotional.

Please, City Council members, listen to Councilman Marvin Braude and ban the use of leaf blowers. You won’t be putting gardeners out of business--they can use rakes and brooms to remove debris.

About the time the gardeners are heading home, and we could enjoy a quiet walk, the student pilots from Van Nuys Airport begin their nightly buzz of our neighborhood. I wouldn’t mind if student pilots did this one night a week, but every night produces too much noise as the planes continually circle our homes.

I hope the City Council will address both of these noise pollution problems soon.

JO ANN M. SMITH, North Hills