Leaf-blower debate gets new wind with city council

How many roads must a man walk down before he’s deafened and smothered in dust by a gas-powered leaf blower?

The answer wasn’t blowin’ in the wind this week, when the Sonoma City Council on March 2 revisited the town leaf-blower ordinance at the behest of Councilmember Laurie Gallian. She said she’s still hearing complaints from residents who say local landscapers are creating an untenable nuisance by the volume and dust stirred up by overuse of gas-powered leaf blowers.

Gallian had been in the minority vote last October, when a proposed ban on the machines came before the council and was narrowly defeated following an unexpected change of heart by former Councilmember Ken Brown. His vote against the ban, some say, worked against him in his failed bid for re-election.

This time out, the council was all ears for neighbors who’d come to speak against the blowers, but more cautious when it came to riding the wind toward another vote to ban the sonorous, but efficient leaf-herding machines.

“I don’t want to have to legislate this,” said Councilmember Madolyn Agrimonti. “But people are pretty unhappy.”

Gallian, too, acknowledged that the issue has already had a “complete vetting” by prior councils, but added that “it needs further discussion.”

And discussion is what the council got, as about a dozen Sonomans were at the ready to rake over the pros and cons of prohibiting gas-powered blowers.

Pat Coleman, who lives on blower-heavy Broadway, applauded the council for revisiting the issue, saying that on Broadway, a mixed-use area, she hears leaf blowers “morning, noon and night.”

Under a 2011 noise ordinance, leaf-blowers are restricted to a volume of 70 decibels and their use to weekdays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. in business-zoned neighborhoods; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday in residential neighborhoods, according to city Planning Director David Goodison.

Sarah Ford, a resident of East Napa Street, referenced former-Councilmember Brown’s vote as reason enough to bring the issue back.

“A last-minute change in vote didn’t give time to discuss the reasons that brought the change of heart,” said Ford.

A First Street West resident, Linda, said she all but shuts down her house for an hour a week while leaf blowers trumpet their cacophonous call.

“We need to protect our businesses, but we need to protect our homeowners, as well,” she said.

Not everyone spoke in favor of a ban. Sonoma resident Stan Pappas described last fall’s leaf-blower debate as a “debacle.”

“Ken Brown probably lost the election because of the way he voted on this,” said Pappas. “Too many regulations are a pain in the butt.”

Another First Street West resident, Paul Dorce, vowed to use gas-powered leaf blowers, ban or no ban.

“If I have to use a blower to maintain things, I will use a blower,” he said. “If you ban them, I will still use a blower.

“If you hear a blower – it’ll be me.”

In the end, the council voted 3 – 2 to ask staff to “come back at a later date with some suggestions about leaf blowers.”