Muzzling the Neighborhood Pest

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I was walking my young son, Daniel, down a neighborhood street when I heard an unusual sound: the pleasant, musical chirping of a bird.

Not that birds are all that unusual in my neighborhood. It’s just that you often can’t hear them above the din of a more widespread and aggressive species: the common leaf blower.

As a child, my parents taught me to identify all sorts of birds in our Long Island community. Armed with my “Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds,” I learned to listen for the calls of the robin, the mockingbird, the blue jay. But my son has much more excitement in store. “Listen closely, Daniel,” I say to him on our walks. “That’s the sound of the Turbo 2000--not many like that in these parts. And over there, in the distance, you can hear the Quantum 40ZX--nothing like it.” Peterson is missing out on a golden publishing opportunity: “A Field Guide to North American Lawn and Garden Equipment.”

Of course, leaf blowers do a lovely job of removing pesky leaves that can mar the beauty of a perfectly manicured lawn. But a rake can do the same thing, without billowing clouds of exhaust or deafening engines. And for sweeping up dust, why not try a broom? It’s an effective and environmentally nondestructive tool--although, admittedly, it’s a lot less macho. Just think about how much cleaner our air would be.

The worst thing about leaf blowers in Los Angeles is that, no matter where you are, you can nearly always hear one. The first roar in my neighborhood can be heard at 7 a.m.--lucky for us, the city has an ordinance prohibiting noise-generating construction or yard work before that time. Still, that early rev-up time is a tough break for the night shift worker or for the new mother whose baby might finally have dropped off to sleep just before dawn. That last example I report from experience.

What’s most remarkable is the effort many people put into noise reduction of other kinds. Whether it’s blocking expansion of an airport, or pressing for freeway sound walls, citizens groups find no opponent--even the largest of bureaucracies--too formidable a target. And yet the lowly leaf blower, whose noise irritates so many, remains largely unregulated.

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But there is hope. City Councilman Marvin Braude has a motion before the council to ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers within 500 feet of a residence. Not surprisingly, he faces a mighty opposition from gardeners who praise the time-saving virtues of the device. But time-saving for whom? For the homeowner, who finds her neighbor’s debris deposited on her own property? For the city, which spends time cleaning out storm drains clogged by leaf-blower-deposited detritus? For the allergy sufferer, who spends more time blowing his nose and sneezing and feeling generally under the weather because of the dust?

On occasion, Daniel and I will be bold and try to sit out in front of the house to enjoy the beautiful weather. But inevitably the revving of an engine breaks the silence, my head pounds and I start sneezing from flying particles. That’s when I consider moving my chair to an offramp of the Ventura Freeway for a bit of peace and quite, and some fresh air.

So I spend a lot of time indoors, behind my double-pane windows, imagining winning the lottery and buying a piece of land large enough to insulate me from these sounds. How much land would it take, I wonder? Four acres? Six? Ten?