Expanded coverage: Sonoma moves toward blower ban
The Sonoma City Council on Monday voted 3-2 to direct staff to draft regulations banning gas leaf blowers within city limits.
Councilmembers Rachel Hundley, Laurie Gallian and Madolyn Agrimonti voted for restrictions, to include prohibiting electric leaf blowers in residential neighborhoods. Gary Edwards and Mayor David Cook opposed the move.
The use of electric blowers on commercial properties and city parks is still in question. The vote calls for city staff to develop those rules, and present them at a future meeting.
“This is a victory for my son with compromised lungs and all those who suffer from respiratory distress,” said Mara Lee Ebert, one of the organizers of Sonoma Neighbors Against Leaf Blowers. “The citizens of Sonoma will now have a more peaceful and tranquil place to call home.”
The issue was hotly debated in 2013, and a ban was verbally approved by Gallian, Steve Barbose and then-Mayor Ken Brown. But when the council took a final vote, Brown changed his mind.
In hearings to that point, the majority of ban proponents cited the machines’ excessive and disruptive noise. In the latest debate, the impact on health became a major focus. The machines not only blow leaves, but also pollute the air while spewing dust, allergens and even animal feces into neighboring areas.
“Our committee took the time to educate the citizens of Sonoma and once our neighbors learned of the health hazards associated with them, we had nearly unanimous consent,” Ebert said.
While Gallian said her vote was essentially by public demand for a ban, Edwards felt no change was needed. He said the City’s current rules for blowers were sufficient, and that neighbors should be able to talk through any differences.
The ban is by no means a done deal. The public will have another chance for input, and the councilmembers the opportunity to tweak of even reject the staff recommendations, when the matter comes before the panel again. That agenda item is not yet scheduled.
3 thoughts on “Expanded coverage: Sonoma moves toward blower ban”
Comments are closed.
I would very much support a ban on all leaf blowers. I stopped using them years ago. They blow dust, dirt and pollen creating more of a problem than a solution. Since I stopped using them, I have a cleaner garden and a much cleaner house.
besides allergies, and witnessing useless blowing that is ongoing throughout the day, ..only for landscape to look the same. I would appreciate them wiping down furniture and sweep 1000% more then the useless (looking busy) routine. AND. WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WITH OTHER DISABILITIES like blindness, learning disabilities, pts…. This blowing nonsense disrupts some many lives on a day to day basis. And to be so useless on top of it!
Day laborers with blowers pretty much invade my home/office throughout day m-s… I can’t think, or communicate due to noise. Or plan anything outside!!!!
Whether neighbors “should” be able to negotiate this issue is debatable. The fact is they won’t and can’t. Even the most skillful approach with a request that blowers be used less often or at a less inconvenient time of day will almost invariably be met by extreme defensiveness. It is a sad reality that many people feel perfectly entitled to do whatever the law does not prohibit. That is not as it “should” be, but it is as it is. Therefore, a regulation is needed to curb conduct which is polluting, unhealthy and antisocial.