Leaf Blower Ban Given Initial OK by Laguna Council : Noise: Residents had complained that the machines destroyed the city’s peaceful quiet and polluted its air.

A ban on leaf blowers--the first in Orange County--was tentatively approved Tuesday night by a City Council urged on by residents who said the blowers shatter serenity and pollute the air.

Robert F. Gentry, one of four council members who endorsed the new law, said he had been lobbied by people on both sides of the issue since the council signaled two weeks ago that it was moving toward a total ban.

“It’s one of those non-clear-cut issues in Laguna Beach,” Gentry said. “My concern, of course, is noise and health and air pollution.”

But Councilman Wayne L. Peterson, who voted against the measure, said most of the calls he received were from people who favored restricting, rather than outlawing, the machines.

“It’s just one more time Laguna Beach City Council is saying, ‘We know better, you are prohibited from having them,’ ” Peterson said. “People are tired of being told, ‘This is the way you will behave.’ ”

While a number of gardeners and others turned out to oppose the new law, most in attendance supported it, urging the council to “leave the leaves.”

“The blower people wear ear plugs,” said resident Jerrie James. “I’ve been forced to keep them under my mattress, ready for a moment’s notice.”

The council’s attention was directed toward the power blowers in large part by the Laguna North Neighborhood Assn., which conducted a nine-month study of leaf blowers. Ultimately, they decided leaf blowers are “not compatible with Laguna’s ambience.”

The group also said that without a ban, the city eventually could face lawsuits as residents became “more aware of harm to respiratory systems, eyes and hearing.”

A spokesman for an Illinois manufacturer of leaf blowers who flew in for the meeting said such laws are rare.

“What’s happening in Laguna has happened in a few other cities around the state and, as far as I know, in no others in the country,” Robin Pendergrast said.

Pendergrast, who monitors restrictions on power blowers nationwide, said he has talked to officials in about 90 cities in California about controlling their use, including the cities of Orange and Irvine.

Almost always, he said, the cities have chosen to control rather than ban the machines.

Pendergrast said the blowers have been unfairly singled out, and that they are not as noisy as power mowers or power generators. He also said he is aware of no evidence to support claims that the blowers pollute the air.

“Right now there is absolutely no documentation that we know of, other than generalizations that are made by people, that has any significance at all,” he said. “People are assuming things.”

Initially, the city’s staff had recommended against the ban because the blowers were being used routinely by city’s own maintenance workers. But the city has since discontinued their use.

City Manager Kenneth C. Frank has said the city will now have to pay about $10,000 to $15,000 more each year for maintenance, because sweeping takes longer. The blowers worked particularly well, Frank said, on sandy steps leading to the beach.

Peterson said that without the blowers his main concern was for the additional water it could take the city to clean city walkways.

“Of course that’s OK this week,” he said, “but normally it’s not.”

Barbara Stuart, a member of the neighborhood association, said she was not surprised by the council action.

“Well, we’re the first to do a lot of things,” she said. “I am not at all surprised.”

A final vote on the new law is expected in two weeks.