It's all over but the shouting

The great Sonoma leaf–blower debate reached its zenith tonight by a Sonoma City Council vote of 3-2. And the rest, as they say, was silence. Literally.

The approval of a first reading of an ordinance banning gas powered leaf blowers within the city limits was as prompt as it was prosaic. The divided council approved the ban without discussion. In fact, it took all of five syllables to defeat the mighty Hurricane Hydroblower – with Mayor Laurie Gallian and councilmembers David Cook and Madolyn Agrimonti voicing the 'ayes' and councilmembers Gary Edwards and Rachel Hundley supplying the 'nays.' The issue that has bedeviled the city for more than four years landed with a muted thud on the floor of the Community Meeting Room Monday night, when a plug for the Community Center's Trashion Fashion show by Agrimonti received more lip service from the council than the fate of the landscape tool that has exercised control over city administration since 2012.

There have been numerous twists, turns, squalls and tempests to the blower debate over the years. But in a nutshell: Critics of the vociferous leaf shufflers condemn the tools as environmental Voldemorts, while landscapers and those who employ them champion the wind machines as the ShamWow of lawn-tidying systems.

Pro-leaf-blowing landscapers were entirely AWOL from the March 7 meeting, perhaps resigned to an encroaching fate that had been evident in recent council meetings: Gas powered blowers were going down, while electric and battery operated machines would be allowed Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Sonoma council, too, appeared resigned to the outcome – an outcome to the issue all five members have debated countless times over the past 14 months.

The ordinance didn't pass entirely without comment. Members of SNALB, the Sonoma Neighbors Against Leaf Blowers group came to the podium to thank the council and city staff for granting them a partial victory in their years-long efforts to quiet the cacophonic contraptions.

SNALB member Sarah Ford described the results as a 'landmark' decision, noting Sonoma was the first city in the county to levy any such ban on leaf blowers.

'Maybe we can have a sign as you drive through town – 'leaf blower-free zone,'' quipped Ford, referencing the City of Berkeley's renowned declaration as a 'nuclear-free zone.'

Bu perhaps it was Patricia Cullinan who said it best. Cullinan, of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society, hadn't attended the council meeting to weigh in on the leaf-blower issue. But the self-described landscape contractor said she felt the need to speak out against leaf blowers nonetheless.

'I really believe that people should change their view about what their yard looks like,' said Cullinan. 'Not every leaf has to disappear.'

Email Jason at jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.