|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Editor’s note: A previous headline for the article had incorrect information. During council deliberation, town staff were asked to consider exceptions and different approaches to the ban but a vote was not taken by the council.
During a Town Council meeting on Sept. 10, the town of Woodside passed an ordinance to move forward with a rebate program for electric leaf blowers and tools with Palo Alto-based environmental nonprofit Acterra. The town will also be applying for a grant with Peninsula Clean Energy for extra funds. All council members voted in favor. Council member Chris Shaw was absent.
The council decided to not vote on an ordinance to ban gas-powered leaf blowers and referred the ordinance back to town staff for considerations on exceptions and different approaches to the ban. Neighboring cities and towns including Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Hillsborough have already banned gas-powered leaf blowers.
In July 2020, the Woodside Town Council held a study session on leaf blower regulations and directed town staff to prepare an ordinance that aligned hours of commercial leaf blowing with construction hours. This ordinance was adopted in September 2020 restricting commercial leaf blowing to development and building construction hours but did not limit use to residents.
The state passed legislation that bans the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers, chainsaws and small off-road engines (SOREs), effective Jan. 1, 2024. This legislation passed after the state determined that SOREs emitted high levels of pollutants that impact air quality and health.
The town’s partnership with Acterra will cost a total of $50,000, which will cover advertising, administration, data systems, mileage and vouchers for residents and businesses. The rebate program will grant town residents and non-gardening businesses up to $250 to purchase new electric gardening equipment. Professional gardeners in Woodside can receive up to $1,000 for new electric equipment
Town staff also identified a grant through Peninsula Clean Energy which would provide additional funding for the rebate program and to develop education and outreach materials for the community. According to the presentation by Senior Management Analyst Brandi deGarmeaux, the grant will cover all costs associated with its partnership with Acterra and more.
The council voted to spend $112,000 of the grant on the rebate program and outreach efforts which will exhaust the town’s available funds from Peninsula Clean Energy. This would ensure more residents and businesses can partake in the rebate.
Town Attorney Jean Savaree clarified that a penalty for violating the ban would be similar to a ticket and a fine.
Council member Dick Brown said he felt his gardener’s electric leaf blowers sounded louder than a gas-powered blower. DeGarmeaux stated that through research, the general decibel levels of electric blowers are lower but some districts have placed limits on decibel use, typically 65 decibels at 50 feet.
Christin New, a resident of the Western Hills, expressed her dissatisfaction with a ban of gas-powered devices. She told the council that when several redwood trees fell on her property in the winter, blocking a road, she used her gas-powered chainsaw to clear the area. She also added that the private road that she leaf blows is almost half a mile long, which she says an electric leaf blower would need to be recharged before reaching the end of the road.
“This really infringes upon my ability to maintain my land, to reduce leaf litter, to buck fallen trees and to clear brush. It would reduce my ability to reduce fire hazard on our property,” said New. “You’re diminishing my ability to keep my property and our family and neighbors safer.”
Hassan Aburish, Woodside’s District 5 candidate, said that gas tools are stronger. He suggested that the town wait to pass the ordinance until “electric tools have caught up to gas powered in strength, power and usefulness.”
Council member Paul Goeld said when his landscaper had switched to electric leaf blowers, he was surprised by how quiet they were. His landscaper however had informed him that they didn’t work as well and needed frequent battery changes.
As a response to New’s comments, Goeld suggested a permit program that would allow residents in certain neighborhoods that require high-powered gas equipment for emergencies to apply for a permit to use gas-powered tools on their properties.
Despite resident frustrations and council members’ support for flexible approaches, Mayor Jenn Wall said she thinks the town needs to make tough trade-offs.
“The frustration that I think a small subset of the community might feel in not being able to use that equipment is outweighed by the fact that these are really harmful to the environment,” she said.
Wall notes that she received emails from residents in support of the ban who explained the impact of gas fumes and chemicals on at-risk groups including children, elders and/or people with asthma.
“We talk a lot about how Woodiside is bucolic, quiet, peaceful and in my mind, there is nothing less rural feeling than a noisy, polluting, gas-powered leaf blower,” said Wall.
Wall noted that towns similar to Woodside, like Hillsborough and Portola Valley, have already banned gas-powered leaf blowers. Wall noted that Woodside should be able to manage the ban. She also expressed her willingness to explore exceptions for emergencies.
The council referred town staff to explore the possibility of exceptions on gas-powered tools in emergencies and for residents with larger properties and a permit program for gas-powered tools.
