Publication Date: Friday, April 29, 2005
Winds of change
Winds of change
(April 29, 2005) Expected ban on gas-powered leaf blowers stirs debate
by Jocelyn Dong
Madeleine Roegiers dreads Wednesday mornings.
It's then that an onslaught of dust clouds and nerve-rattling noise invades her block of the University South neighborhood.
Roegiers calls them "terrorist attacks." Her neighbors call them gardeners with leaf blowers.
Roegiers will be happy if the city goes ahead with a ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers, scheduled to take effect July 1. But a professional-gardeners group, and some residents, say such a sweeping prohibition is unnecessary, and could hurt the livelihood of the gardeners -- many of whom are Hispanic and just trying to make ends meet.
The prohibition of the noisy gas-driven blowers was originally supposed to occur three years ago. But with the economic downturn in 2002, Palo Alto police -- who enforce the leaf-blower regulations -- persuaded the City Council the ban would harm the gardeners and that quieter machines might be available three years down the road.
With the deadline approaching this summer, the police department is now gathering information from the public about the proposed ban, and will make a recommendation to the council in June.
Current leaf-blower regulations include: using them only between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays; using models that make 65 decibels of noise or less; and requiring certification of gardeners to educate them on proper leaf-blower etiquette.
The issue drew more than 60 people to a community meeting Tuesday night, and comments of residents and gardeners alike revealed a situation that touches upon everything from economic class differences to Palo Alto residents' "freakish" fetish for perfectly manicured yards.
Resident Liz Lee resented the amount of time gardeners spend blowing in her neighborhood.
"Fifteen hours a month I have to listen to over-the-back-fence leaf-blower noise. It drives me crazy. It's a quality of life issue," she said.
Other residents, including one clutching an inhaler, protested the machines' tendency to stir up not just leaves but dust and other particles -- mold, pesticides, animal feces, bacteria and automobile oil.
"What bothers me is the pollution," an asthmatic woman said.
But a handful of residents defended the use of blowers.
"To expect our gardeners to hand sweep is ridiculous," said John Armstrong, who suggested people use earplugs if they don't like the noise. His comment drew scoffs from other audience members.
Another resident simply called the leaf blowers "a great invention" that produces better results than rakes on his 2,000 square feet of pavement, patio and gravel.
The gardeners themselves, organized by the Bay Area Gardeners Association, defended the use of a device as critical to their livelihood.
Ramon Quezada has been maintaining Palo Alto yards for 28 years. With a leaf blower, he can do 15-20 jobs a week; without one, he'd get to about five, he said.
"We don't like to use the blower either, but we have to. It's here -- let's give it a chance," Quezada said. He also tried to appeal to the residents' sense of economic justice, saying that his livelihood as a gardener enabled his son to attend college and become a lawyer.
Mostly, the gardeners pleaded for more time to educate their colleagues on how to use a leaf-blower sparingly and with more consideration to neighbors. An outright ban would cost residents, they argued, because the work would take longer. Gardeners charge about $30-40/hour, one landscape professional said.
And what about electric leaf blowers, the solution the City Council had hoped for? They're either not powerful enough or louder than 65 decibels, gardeners said.
On Wednesday morning, Roegiers was once again shaking her head over the arrival of the gardening crews. Hector Sandoval, president of the Bay Area Gardeners Association, stood next to her, having met her at the forum the night before and having promised to talk with the local gardeners about the noise and dust. He discovered, to Roegiers' chagrin, that the crew was already certified.
Trying to find common ground, Roegiers and Sandoval complained about the "aggressive" crews that disregard leaf-blowing etiquette.
Roegiers recalled a conversation she'd had with one neighbor's gardeners, lifting her voice to be heard over the whine of the blower. "All your leaves are in my yard," she told him. His reply: "Why don't you have your gardener blow them back over the fence?"
Sandoval nodded, sympathizing with her concerns, while facing his own over the possible ban. "It's frustrating. We want to do it right," he said.
Senior Staff Writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.
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