Gas Leaf-Blower Ban Delayed Until January

It was the sort of deal that made Henry Clay a legislative legend, though the controversy was definitely of the only-in-L.A. sort.

Two weeks after its ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers took effect, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to delay enforcing the new law until January to give police time to figure out how to make the whole thing work.

The six-month moratorium is also intended to appease angry gardeners, who have been deprived of a tool they consider vital and argue that the law hurts their ability to earn a living.

In fact, the vote appeared to be a masterpiece of compromise because, after nearly two hours of debate, it was reluctantly accepted by both the gardeners and their opponents, organized homeowners, who have long complained about the noise and pollution generated by the machines.

Gardeners asked for a one-year moratorium on the ban; homeowners asked for immediate enforcement. The council split the difference and both sides left apparently content.

For now.

“I felt there should be an outright ban on blowers,” said Peter Graves, the former star of the television series “Mission Impossible” who has accepted the mission of battling the ubiquitous blowers. “But this is a compromise.”

After the meeting, Adrian Alvarez, a spokesman for the Assn. of Latin American Gardeners, said: “It’s half of what we wanted. It’s still apparent that we need to have both sides start the appropriate discussions.”

The law was championed by former Councilman Marvin Braude and took effect July 1. It instructed police to give gardeners who use the blowers within 500 feet of a residence two warnings before issuing a $1,000 citation.

But Los Angeles police say they have yet to figure out how to keep track of which gardeners have been warned and which have not. Police also say the law is not clear on when a gardener should be cited for using a blower and when a homeowner who hires a gardener should get the ticket.

And if a gardener is cited, police don’t know whether they should confiscate the blower, said LAPD Cmdr. Art Lopez.

“We need time to create a successful blower ordinance,” Lopez said.

Another problem, gardeners say, is that leaf-blower manufacturers have yet to produce a quiet, environmentally friendly alternative to the gas-belching models.

Several council members argued that an outright citywide blower ban would force manufacturers to create such an alternative. Others said the manufacturers need the year’s grace provided by the moratorium to develop a more tolerable machine.

At least one lawmaker thought the entire debate was a lot of noise and little substance.

“This is an example of where you rush into something and you create as many problems as you tried to resolve,” said a clearly frustrated Councilman Richard Alatorre.

The debate generated its own comic noises, as when Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. tried to demonstrate to the audience how the sound of a leaf blower can be reduced by “throttling down” the engine.

“Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma,” he mouthed into his microphone, trying to imitate an idling blower.

The law is not a recent idea. The council has been debating restrictions on leaf blowers since 1986. A divided council finally adopted the law last year after Braude, a fervent environmentalist, made a final push for the legislation.

But Braude retired on the day the law took effect, leaving no one to continue his fight against the blowers.

Soon after the Westside lawmaker left, Councilman Mike Hernandez, the ban’s staunchest opponent, began lobbying colleagues on the council to adopt a one-year moratorium on enforcement.

He said the statute has created some “enormous divisions” in the city and has generated “racist” accusations that gardeners are too lazy to use brooms instead of blowers.

The two sides where evident during the council meeting. On one side of the council chambers, about 150 Latino and Asian gardeners wore green shirts and applauded loudly when lawmakers spoke in support of the moratorium.

Alvarez compared the blower ban to “taking a saw or hammer from a carpenter.

“All we are saying is this is not a viable solution,” he added.

The other side of the chamber was packed with mostly older homeowners, many in suits and ties, waving pink signs that said: “Keep Blower Ban.”

One of those homeowners, Noah Modisett of San Pedro, argued that the ban on blowers can be enforced now. “We know it’s workable,” he said. “It works in other cities.”

In the end, the compromise motion for a six-month moratorium was proposed by Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, the rookie lawmaker who was elected last month to replace Braude.