Council Delays Decision on Leaf Blowers

A handful of residents vented their feelings about leaf blowers Tuesday night, urging City Council members to muffle the noisy gardening tools.

Accused of spewing smog, kicking up dust and causing a ruckus, the leaf blower has lately been caught in a swirl of controversy throughout Southern California. On Tuesday, a new ordinance restricting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers took effect in Los Angeles.

Locally, Pastor Jim Bain of First Presbyterian Church in Oxnard has led the crusade against leaf blowers. He has collected more than 60 signatures on a petition seeking to outlaw gas-powered leaf blowers, the most powerful variety.

Bain told council members Tuesday that an asthmatic friend who recently passed away had regularly been plagued by dust stirred up by leaf blowers.

“On this day, when the Los Angeles ban on leaf blowers . . . goes into effect, I would hope that our City Council would have the same concern about people’s health,” Bain said.

But Oxnard gardener David Katayama warned council members that a local ban on leaf blowers would cause landscapers to raise their prices.

“Does the City Council really want to tell people what tools they can use to do their job?” Katayama asked. “Many of my customers are elderly, and on a limited income. Any raise on rates would be a burden on them.”

The council was scheduled to discuss the possibility of restricting the use of leaf blowers. But Councilman Dean Maulhardt was absent Tuesday and requested that the discussion take place when he was available. The other four council members voted unanimously to postpone the issue until July 22.

A city report prepared for the council meeting presented a variety of options, from an outright ban on leaf blowers to limiting their use to daytime hours.

According to the report, leaf blowers emit about 71 decibels, equivalent to the noise level of normal automobile traffic. Together, weed whips, gasoline-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers are thought to cause about 5% of all air pollution, the report states.

Statewide, more than 40 communities have taken steps to limit the use of leaf blowers.

The new Los Angeles ordinance bans the use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers within 500 feet of residences. Violators can be fined up to $1,000 and serve six months in jail.

In Ventura County, Camarillo addressed leaf blower nuisances more than a decade ago. Weed and debris blowers cannot be used in that city between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The use of any power equipment that makes “a loud, raucous, or impulsive sound” is banned in Thousand Oaks between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Other cities in Ventura County use sound and public nuisance ordinances to deal with leaf blowers.

Oxnard has noise and nuisance ordinances, but some residents say it is time for a specific leaf blower ordinance.

“We can sweep the dust off the streets ourselves, and spare our neighbors,” resident Letha Marshall said.