Kevin Bidgood has lived in Westport with his family since 2014, and before that in Weston. He is a member of the choir at Christ & Holy Trinity Church, and plays golf at Longshore. He and his wife walk their dogs at Longshore, Winslow Park and the beach. He works from home, and values peace and tranquility in our town.
Kevin writes:
I had hoped for a quieter summer after the town enacted a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers between May 15 and October 15.
After the ban went into effect, I spoke with several landscaping crews in my neighborhood. I asked them to stop using their gas blowers, citing the new regulation.
One crew returned a week later with commercial-grade electric blowers that were really very quiet. Another simply stopped blowing.
This is going well, I thought.
However, as the summer continued, no other crews in my area used electric blowers; they seemed to do just what they did before the ban.
Electric leaf blower.
I engaged in a civilized debate with one landscape company that had purchased electric blowers, but would not use them unless the homeowners agreed to pay an upcharge for their use.
He said that the homeowners require that the clippings be blown, but will not pay more for that service.
I have written to the Conservation Department director with my observations. I know that letters have been sent to homeowners, reminding them of the ban.
I wonder how many complaints have been raised, and whether there is a way to know of complaints? Perhaps the town could host a web page where complaints could be submitted, with date, time, street, name of landscaping company if available, and duration. At least we’d get some visibility to the issue.
No doubt emissions technology is improving. But we care about this as a community, because emissions from gas-powered leaf blowers have high levels of pollutants.
Equally, the ban was passed to reduce the noise pollution from these machines which affect our enjoyment of this peaceful town.
In my opinion there is simply no need to blow clippings on the lawn as they will biodegrade in a few days, and a few minutes with an electric blower will clear clippings from driveways and paths.
It comes down to this: Do we want a ban or not?
If we do, then the town needs mechanisms to enforce the ban. I don’t believe that education and awareness will have the desired effect.
From my limited research, cities that have implemented gas-powered leaf blower bans primarily target homeowners for fines. Landscaping companies may also be subject to fines.
For example, a year-round ban in Boulder, Colorado is enforced by the police. Other bans are enforced through public works departments.
I’d be interested to hear if this strikes a chord with other Westporters and what you think should be done, if anything. Please click “Comments” below.
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Leaving the cut grass where it lies is good for the lawn, the air quality and the neighborhood.
Brother Katz speaketh the truth!!!
There was no change this summer. The leaf blowers howled like angry hornets all over my neighborhood, except at my house where they are banned. I also reduced the size of the lawn.
The regulation needs to have teeth.
May I ask what equipment your crew uses?
Leaf blowers move clippings and leaves from one place to another. No clean up is accomplished.
I went to Compo Beach one early morning during the summer. A public works staff was using a gas leaf blower to remove sand from the perimeter walkway. So I moved to the opposite end of the beach and when I returned over and hour later the person was still blowing. Using a broom would have been far faster and silent at the job.
The only time I noticed leaf blowers this summer was early mornings at Compo. The crew there used gas powered leaf blowers every morning to remove sand from sidewalks.
As the RTM in its wisdom exempted the town from the ban, this was perfectly “legal.” Such obvious hypocrisy makes the ban for private homeowners and landscaping companies a toothless and contemptible law.
No material change in the downtown area. Ditto the Post Road corridor. It would appear that many of the commercial property guys are still using the gas powered blowers. They know that, unlike in Norwalk, there’s no fine for violations.
I have noticed no change where I live in Greens Farms.
Do what I do. Use an e-Go electric mulching mower. Quiet as a church mouse. Works on leaves too. Free fertilizer. Put the money you save in the plate at CH&T and you’ll get to heaven.
Our landscapers and most of the crews I’ve observed around town continued to use gas powered blowers. Not quiet or environmentally friendly summer at all. I was told that without teeth there is zero motivation to change. Disappointing, unheeded “suggestion,” in my limited observations.
It was MUCH quieter in our neighborhood this summer, thanks to the ordinance. Were there violations? For sure–there was definitely a learning curve. Still, in my experience, 95% of people who received notices from Conservation stopped using the machines–which spew all kinds of toxic pollutants. The question isn’t “Do we want this ordinance?”–we’ve already answered that. The question is what to do about the small percentage of people who, despite Conservation’s educational efforts, flat our refuse to follow the law. Would we tolerate this when it comes to speeding or passing school buses–two other laws that protect the community. I think not. If we do anything, it should be to impose serious fines for repeat offenders.
I wish I could say the same. 🙁 Almost every day this summer at least one set of gas-powered leaf blowers was going, many times multiple crews at once. I asked one landscaper I knew why he was still using them, and he shrugged and said, “There’s no fine.”
So there was still the cacophony and still my asthma flaring up. The only thing that changed was that I felt more aggravated knowing there was a “ban.”
Assuming businesses have been adequately informed of the ordinance, it’s the landscaping companies that should be fined, not the homeowner. Their non-compliance is with the tiwn, not the homeowner.
A property across the street has many acres and landscapers that use out road to go up the hill. They use their leaf blower for a minimum of 5-7 hours each time. Not only is it a menace to anyone who wants to rest or nap or just want a peaceful day. It is terrible if someone like me who suffers with excruciating migraines. I have had to leave the house and drive to the library multiple times to escape the noise. They stopped for a few hot months this summer and then fall arrived, before the leaves could even hit the floor the leaf blowers started AGAIN!
Yesterday, my neighbor, a senior, was mowing her lawn—by herself!! Maybe she had an electric mower, maybe not. Just next to where my husband and I were sitting, but the noise was minimal. No fumes. She doesn’t seem to need to blow her grass around. My landscapers use an electric blower, but the roar of their whole operation is as bad as anywhere. They also tend to blow what’s on the patio stone into the flowerbeds, blowing back the mulch that I pay a lot to have applied. When my guys are done, another team shows up on my street with their roaring, military-grade equipment. One day when I was sitting outside, I counted eight different teams disturbing my peace, just as my guys had disturbed my community.
We need to rethink this whole way of tending to our private oases. I thought, what if I invested in my own, small-scale, electric mower, and just hired one person to mow our lawn and sweep our patio and pool deck? Hmmn…
Meanwhile, I’m ready to nominate my mowing neighbor Katherine for a Presidential Medal of Honor.
I noticed a difference in my neighborhood – a bit better – but the difference went out the window around October 1. These last two weeks the blowers have been howling full blast. My technique over the summer for the violators was to put a flyer in their mailboxes, with a reminder of the ordinance dates on one side, and this article on the other, which should be required reading for all suburbanites.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/opinion/leaf-blowers-california-emissions.html
This whole discussion is absurd. This whole issue is absurd. Very sorry some of your summer naps were disturbed, but I have a feeling the toxic mutant pesticides some of you use on your lawns are multiples times more damaging to the environment. While we’re at it, maybe the conversation should extend to the factory mass produced meat you’re consuming.
Or we can talk about a real issue. We’ve got people driving 70 mph up north ave by the schools, on Bayberry, compo north, turkey hill and other every other 25 mph posted zones. Stop signs are now yield signs at best, yield signs are now green lights. A kid lost his life last month and since that day the level of assh-le driving around here has increased 10x. There will be more accidents and injuries and hopefully I’m wrong when I say probably much worse if nothing significant is done about it.
This town acts like they give a crap about conservation yet they hand out building permits like candy corn on Halloween. We’ve got a mutant bug which was sent over here by a foreign adversary that is eating, literally eating and destroying our trees. I’m no scientist but something tells me this will prove much worse for our environment than a piece of gas operated lawn equipment.
So unless some of you are going to provide, on your dime, brand new electric equipment to your landscapers, many of whom simply cannot afford to switch over their entire fleet, get off your high horses and address things that matter for everybody.
I wouldn’t say it the same way but I agree with some of Mr. Gutman’s points. People seem very concerned about having their kids play on artificial turf — yet their landscaping crews are non-stop fertilizing their lawns with toxic chemicals. Westport has so many smart, accomplished people but even a baby step, banning gas powered leaf blowers, is ineffective. Why is there so little willingness to change our habits to live healthier, more environmentally helpful lives?
Laughable. The ordinance was advertised as a move toward sustainability and lower air pollution – when we all knew it was to quiet the town for the cranks. You can’t “govern” your preferences and I certainly don’t want to waste valuable police time patrolling for violators. Com’n people. Bigger issues in the world than gas leaf blowers!!
one day of wild fire smoke lingering in the air (which happened more than one day this summer) is probably far worse than the entire year of small engine lawncare exhaust. but what do i know. i do agree its kind of stupid to remove the grass trimmings after mowing though.
While I’m all in favor of cleaner air I think it rather funny that we always pick on a small portion of the population the make changes. For example, in addition to pouncing on small independently owned landscapers lets go after all boat owners who pollute the air with their gas sucking engines. Boat owners must convert to electric or their boats don’t move out of dock
How many do think will line up to make that conversion?
As someone else in this thread said, we have much bigger issues to contend with.
It’s tempting to regard this or that an incidental distraction. And to be sure, we’re fortunate to have problems such as the one at issue. However, quality of life is a big thing which is actually made up of many small things. One of the defects in the gas powered leaf blower ordinance, as others have observed, is that the town exempted itself. Holding residents to a higher standard isn’t leadership; it’s a finger in the eye. It would likely be best if the ordinance was amended to have an enforcement mechanism such as other municipalities have. Unfortunately, the town would still be in the position of “do as I say, not as I do”. And that’s not a good look.
I experienced the same thing Kevin has endured. Since I write/edit at night, the noise of the gas blowers has always been a sore point to me for they wake me up. That said, when the ordinance went into effect on May 15th, I wrote a friendly reminder to neighbors of the new ordinance. Of the 12 houses on our street, most responded favorably. Two were the exception. I spoke with the landscapers who had not gone electric and they were friendly but maintained that it was not only expensive but impractical for a big lawn with the limited power of the batteries. One neighbor merely said “report me to the town, I will pay the fine.” When I informed him, I would bypass the town and go to Superior Court in Norwalk for injunctive relief, he changed his tune. Not sure why you pass an ordinance without any penalty? I did not report any of the violators to the Conservation Department for I am not a “rat” and figured it wouldn’t do any good regardless. With “fall cleanup” forthcoming and the October 15th deadline looming, we shall return to a “war zone” sound barrier now. Welcome to Westport, so special.
I wish I was that neighbor. Superior Court in Norwalk has been closed since the pandemic.
Nothing better than sticking it to a lawyer.
I knew that. He didn’t. It worked. Whine away.
Sure Carl.
Bravo Bozo
Hey Brett,
I only know you from what you comment on Dan’s blog but in the interest of fairness and truth I’ve been doing an (anal)ysis of your name and have concluded that changing the e to an an and the f to a p inevitably results in a more accurate description.
No one messes with my buddy Scooter on my watch. He is a truly Old Westporter.
What a deeply dumb comment, Brett.
Why is “sticking it to a lawyer” something good?
I’m confused, what is a Norwalk court going to do about a half-assed unenforced — and likely somewhat enforceable ordinance in Westport?
Per CT Statute Section 52-471 and its applicable case law, equitable relief in the form of a negative injunction may be granted to the petitioner if a law is intentionally violated. Damages may also be awarded if pertinent. Or you may email Mr. Frick, above, as he seems to know all about the court system and is the judge/jury on the veracity of every comment on this blog while adding nothing to the discussion but negativism. Warning, however, he likes to call people names.
I totally agree that gas driven leaf blowers are a nuisance. As a small business owner I can also appreciate the cost involved in
landscapers moving over to electric leaf blowers. Maybe there is a compromise that would give the landscapers a time to prepare for the transition. I would suggest indicating that fines will be issued as of January 1, 2025. That would allow the landscapers to complete the fall cleanup this year and begin purchasing new electric leaf blowers. for next year. Is there some way for the landscapers to sell their existing gasoline powered
equipment to defray some of these costs?
Who’s going to buy them if they’re illegal? Isn’t that kind of NIMBYish?
I know!!! Let’s make the evil landscapers donate their gas guzzling and polluting leaf blowers (tax deductible of course) to the Museum of History and Culture. They can have another exhibit on “Westport suburban capitalist decadence.” It’ll fit right into their “let’s weaponize/demonize Westport’s history to undercut their self-esteem so they’ll sell their houses to our buddies from NYC and move to affordable housing in Bridgeport.”
At this point I think the WHS is living rent free in your head.
You’re absolutely right Dave.
I’d like to comment on this. F.O.T.I.- (Foolish Ordinance To Initiate) If you’re not going to enforce, why even bother to have it.
We need Foti on that foto op. We want Foti on that foto op. Celebrity law enforcement. Don’t let it be forgot. That once there was a spot. For happily everaftering than dear old Wetspot. Luciano is not just a park. It was a great Chief of Police. And a platoon of real Westporters that kept us safe. No worries about landscaping companies using fossil fuel because us kids all spent our Saturdays/Sundays after church, temple or (rarely) mosque in unpaid servitude for our parents who were sleeping it off. Using too much “fossil fuel” meant having a third Martini at Mario’s.
I remember raking leafs to the edge of the road and then burning them. F.O.T.I.— Focus On The Imaginable .
Oops… LEAVES .. not leafs.. okay okay.. I wasn’t that good at spelling.
Jack, you’d better hire a chauffeur on your next trip to Westport. Hate has no home there (except if F.O.T.I. spots YOU behind the wheel). But you’ll have to show him how to use that ticket book.
Our neighbor, a legal immigrant from China and a “Covid NY refugee” from the Bronx with a Ph’d. is a great example. He uses only electric to mow his own lawn and he uses a broom to rake the clippings off his sidewalk and driveway. He also uses an electric power saw to take down trees himself. Semper Fi!
The problem is that legal immigration from China isn’t illegal.
Stop.
Okay. I’m sorry.
i live in Whitney Glen. the noise and toxic fumes from the gas leaf blowers is terrible. i have brought this to the attention of several board members, but so far nothing has changed!
This is a problem that requires NO legislation. As the power increases and the costs drop on electric landscaping equipment, people (both homeowners and landscapers) need to replace their gas powered equipment, and the availability of gas powered equipment diminishes, pretty much everyone will buy and use electric landscaping equipment. All we have to do is sit back and watch it happen. The trajectory is already clear that this is what will happen.
If we want to ACCELERATE the adoption of electric landscaping equipment, offer people an INCENTIVE to do so, as the state of Connecticut has done with electric bicycles (see: https://portal.ct.gov/deep/air/mobile-sources/cheapr/electric-bicycles).
Last week in this column the consequences of the state’s facilitating the adoption of “immature technology” such as electric bicycles was made abundantly clear: They are not being properly regulated for what they are: MOTOR VEHICLES and tragically a young man was killed who probably shouldn’t have been allowed on the street because he was not able to prevail in a collision with a truck that wanted to be in the same place at the same time. Interestingly, it was reported that the “accident” was “under investigation” and to my knowledge no updates on that have been published. That’s what happens when the State facilitates things they haven’t given much thought to.
I am afraid, Mark, you have too much faith in the market changing things when time is of the essence. Many states and local jurisdictions have had great success is just banning the use and sale of instruments of pollution, noise and air. Westport has been bullied by the landscapers for years now producing a toothless ordinance. As to your last paragraph, I believe Professor Woog’s column last week, following a detailed report from a local police officer, there is little regulation in regard to electric bikes and it is a clear and present danger. As usual, Dr. Buchroeder is spot on in his comment below.
Scooter, I stand by my comments.
We have made progress and it will continue. People now pretty much support the banning of gas powered leaf blowers during the warm weather months and that is a terrific shift. Let’s see how it goes in the future. My guess is fairly soon, gas powered leaf blowers will no longer be used. The Town of course should ask that the existing regulation be made applicable to its efforts. Change takes some time. I was very pleased with the changes I experienced.
Agree 100%. 99% of landscapers are still using gas blowers. In fact I have commented on this before. This ordinance was a waste of time and paper if it didn’t have any enforcement to it. To just notify the homeowner is also a waste of time.. it’s the landscaper who needs to be fined if they violate the ordinance. ( which I agree could be a very beneficial one.)how about it Selectwoman… do something!
We made some good progress but now is the time to take the next step to ensure we keep moving in the right direction. Too many landscaping companies continue to feign ignorance of the rules. So let’s reward those companies who are conscientiously following the regulations and implement an enforcement mechanism for 2025.
Do people forget that i95 and the merritt run through westport? banning all other gas powered small non-vehicle engines won’t make a dent in pollution. if this is about noise, then focus on the noise, not the pollution aspect.