Leaf Blower Ban Just Hot Air?

The Orange County Grand Jury’s call earlier this year for cities, school districts and the county to ban leaf blowers appears to be more hot air than substance, with spotty enforcement and few citations to show for the effort.

The report found that gas-powered blowers emit toxic fumes, create high-velocity winds that whip dust and pollutants into the air and generate noise that endangers the operators and bothers residents. It harshly criticized the devices, saying the health hazards that citizens face “outweigh the questionable economic benefit” of blowers for local governments.

Yet most cities have yet to address the issue, and Laguna Beach, the only Orange County city to ban the blowers, issues only warnings, not fines.

Steve Balogh, owner of Bio-Scapes Landscape Services, said he still uses a leaf blower, and “I’ve never been caught. I see others use it too. The law doesn’t change anything.”

Since its invention in Japan in the early 1970s, the leaf blower has achieved widespread use in California. Experts estimate that there are nearly 1 million used across the state, half of those in the Los Angeles Basin.

In 1975, Carmel became the first California city to ban the blowers. Beverly Hills followed the next year. Now 20 California cities outlaw gasoline-powered devices and 80 others have slapped noise limits or hourly restrictions on their use.

Yet a Times inquiry shows that outright leaf blower bans are largely problematic.

Laguna Beach has perhaps the strictest ordinance in Southern California. The 1993 measure bans leaf blowers of any kind: gasoline, methanol, electric. City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said electric blowers, though quieter and less polluting, were banned because they still spread harmful dust that can include fecal matter, pesticides, chemicals, fungi and street dirt that can contain lead and carbon. Workers instead must use rakes and brooms or the so-called clean machine, a gas-powered vacuum.

The grand jury report said 95% of residents, gardeners and landscapers comply with the Laguna Beach ordinance, but those in the business dispute that.

Balogh said he simply could not operate without leaf blowers. “If I didn’t have them, it would either put me out of business or I would have to double all my rates,” he said.

Irvine considered a similar ban, but instead the city crafted a compromise in 1990. Businesses that use leaf blowers must register the machines for $25 apiece and put the equipment through a noise test. To be certified, a blower must be equipped with a limiter that restricts the motor to no more than half-throttle and must produce less than 70 decibels of noise from 50 feet away.

Operators also must take a one-hour class on blower use and etiquette, said Eric Tolles, the city’s chief building official.

“There was concern in the community about leaf blowers and noise and dust and so on,” Tolles said. “Rather than an outright ban, the city chose to try to limit the amount of noise they would produce.”

Lake Forest’s response to the grand jury report was typical: “The recommendation will not be implemented because it is neither warranted nor reasonable.”

Officials in several cities said that one recommended alternative, electric-powered blowers, is not a viable option because most work occurs in areas far from electrical outlets. Another suggestion--a rake and broom--is too costly and inefficient, they said.

Eliminating Anaheim’s gas-powered blowers would cause “a tremendous financial hardship,” City Manager James D. Ruth wrote. Anaheim’s cost for maintaining its 41 parks, two golf courses and 300 acres of landscaped medians and parkways would increase $480,000 under such a ban, he wrote.

Local governments, however, need to do more research about leaf-blower regulations before shooting down the grand jury’s recommendations, said Erwin Anisman, a grand juror who helped research the report.

“Until they really analyze it, I don’t see how they can come to a conclusion,” said Anisman, who has read many of the responses.

Some Are Adopting Alternate Means

Officials in other cities, however, say that their ordinances have not been completely empty exercises. Societal pressure brought to bear by new rules has prompted fewer people to rely on the devices and manufacturers to develop quieter models.

Even so, officials in some cities such as Los Angeles, which banned gas-powered leaf blowers in early 1998, are facing reality. For Los Angeles, reality is spotty enforcement, few citations and a major loophole that leads judges to dismiss cases.

“It’s just as bad as before [the city] put the ordinance in place,” said Gerald A. Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino. “It’s a total failure. . . . Three, four, five days a week, we always have a leaf blower going full blast.”

Worse, for those who support such prohibitions, pending legislation in Sacramento would wipe out all local leaf-blower bans except one approved by voters in Santa Barbara. The bill, which would allow blowers no louder than 65 decibels to be operated during business hours, won Assembly approval in June but faces an uncertain future in the Senate.

As the blowers became pervasive, the complaints mounted--more than 5,000 in Los Angeles since the ordinance was adopted.

“When we get a call, we respond,” South Pasadena Police Chief Michael Berkow said about leaf-blower complaints. “But the judges often just fine them a dollar or two.”

The problem of enforcement has made other cities wary of outright bans and especially restrictions such as those proposed in Orange County that are aimed only at government entities.

“The vast majority of blowers are owned by the private sector,” Brea Mayor Marty Simonoff said. “The grand jury does not address these blowers. Therefore, any benefit derived from banning public sector blowers would have very little positive impact on the environment.”

City Blowers Only Drop in the Bucket

Huntington Beach Mayor Peter M. Green pointed out that the 22 leaf blowers his city owns are nothing compared to the number used by the 200 landscape and maintenance companies licensed in the city.

Most cities do restrict decibel levels and hours of use. In Huntington Beach, for example, leaf blowers can be operated only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays and federal holidays, said Richard Barnard, deputy city administrator. From 10 feet away, leaf blowers can not produce more than 70 decibels of sound.

Many jurisdictions, such as Buena Park, Cypress and the Centralia School District, also require their workers to wear ear protection while using leaf blowers.

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Times correspondent Richard Winton and staff writers Roberto Manzano and Solomon Moore contributed to this report.