Saturday, May 05, 2007

SHOULD THE TOWN BAN GAS POWERED LEAF BLOWERS FROM JUNE TO THE FALL

Gas powered leaf blowers create lots of noise. This is a quality of life concern for many. Yonkers and Scarsdale have tougher laws concerning leaf blowers. A constituent advised me that Yonkers recently banned leaf blowers beginning June 1st. Should Greenburgh follow their lead?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, Greenburgh should follow Yonkers' lead on this -- and on a lot of things such as roadway, shoulder and median maintenance.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for limits on the time of day that leaf blowers are used, but I think eliminating them all together could be a problem.

For those who pay contractors to care for their property, they're landscaping rates would likely raise due to the extra labor.

This would be most inconvenient for those who care for their lawns themselves. Blowing leafs together can be a strenuous task itself, having to rake all of them by hand would be torture.

Anonymous said...

I am a senior citizen and care for my own lawn. If I have to move leaves, I need to use a blower since raking is too much for me.

Blowers make little more noise than mowers, so this makes no sense. It's a really dumb idea IMO.

Time of day limits make sense, and the town already has a decibel limit law.

Let's not create hardship for many to keep a few a little happier. This requester has too much time in his hands, and probably doesn't have a lawn.

Anonymous said...

The law would be in effect June 1 - Sept 30 only.

I support it, though really Greenburgh has so many more important matters than this to handle at this time.

Anonymous said...

Are we missing out on something here? If gas-powered blowers are not allowed, then will electric-powered blowers be allowed? Are gas-powered blowers noiser than lawn movers? There should be some sensibility that Yonkers and Scarsdale have disallowed gas-powered leaf blowers, if they can and did perhaps Greenburgh should follow suit.

Anonymous said...

I support the idea of reducing noise pollution -- year round.

Leaf blowers are not used for blowing leaves during June 1 to September 30. They are used to collect grass trimmings.

During the period of the year when they would be used to collect leaves, the law would allow them.

If noise reduction is perceived as a benefit, then this benefit should be a year round benefit.

It is a fine line for government to be deciding the social benefits between lawn trimmings and leaf collection.

Anonymous said...

"It is a fine line for government to be deciding the social benefits between lawn trimmings and leaf collection."

Agreed. And this is not a topic that Greenburgh can handle with ease in this current administration, especially when there are so many other pressing matters.

Also, by the way, I think the rationale for a summertime ban is more related to ground-level ozone than noise.

Anonymous said...

If a law bagging all leaves in our town would be passed there would be less leaves to be picked up or blown all over the place.I cannot understand why this law has not been considered. You want to follow SCARSDALE AND YONKERS,IN BANNING GAS BLOWERS,why not follow them with bagging leaves.

Anonymous said...

I don't think you have an understanding of this matter. This is an environmental issue, not a noise issue at all, and there is no need whatsoever for the town to duplicate the work that is being handled by the county and by the feds. (Ask Abinanti if you haven't been informed of the details.) The new county regulations are actually stricter than the federal regulations, and all county landscapers have been notified. And residents who purchase their own will soon only have the option to purchase the more earth-friendly machines. The county/fed regulations don't specify usage dates, just quality standards, so unless you want the town to be involved in yet another Greenburgh-centric drama, just leave it alone. The town can't even properly handle snow removal, leaf pickup, and simple street cleaning - the most baseline of expectations of its taxpayers - so I don't think the town needs to embarrass itself by getting involved in this matter. (I do commend Yonkers, but it has higher standards for municipal services than Greenburgh has.)

Anonymous said...

The town could save a lot of money if the leaves could be bagged.There would be cleaner streets,catch basins,storm sewers,and no more flooding.This law should have been on the books a long time ago.How about it ,Sheehan,be the first to talk about this at a work session.Coming from you ,I'm quite sure it will happen.

Anonymous said...

How about the monies saved by not paying overtime to the DPW workers .We have to start cleaning,up Greenburgh.It has been filty for too long.

Anonymous said...

I don't get it. Electric blowers are as noisy as gas, and blowers make no more noise than mowers.

Bagging leaves is a fine idea, but it still takes a blower or a rake to get them from the lawn to the bags.

Let's just drop this silly idea. Following other towns is no reason. If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?

Anonymous said...

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down..."
and maybe the Tappan Zee too.

Would you jump off or ride it all the way down?

Or, if you saw the cracks forming, would you not even get on the bridge?

All or none of the answers may be right, or wrong. Create the answer that seems most right.

Anonymous said...

TO 5/07/2007 2:49 AM, Anonymous who said, "I don't get it."

Read further up. It's not a noise issue at all. It's a summertime environmental thing - ozone action days and such.

I agree with "Let's just drop this silly idea. Following other towns is no reason." especially because this is a matter already being addressed by the county.

Anonymous said...

the town board is always afraid to hit one area too hard. PASS A BAG THE LEAVES LAW. Other parts of Greenburgh take it upon themselves to do this with results of cleaner streets.

Anonymous said...

Until the town chosses to handle matters of basic municipal responsibilities already on its plate - sidewalks, snow removal, leaf removal, street maintenance - I don't think the town is in any position to get in the business of ozone maintenance. I can't even trust the town management to sweep the streets; how can I trust the town to be involved in ecological issues.

Anonymous said...

Get rido of Al Regula and we'll all be happy!
Routine maintenance, leaf pick-up, sidewalk repair, library undersight, garbage pick-up, snow removal...

Anonymous said...

Yes! Ban the leaf blowers. A special exemption sould be made for the legtimate disabled so that with a permit (akin to disabled parking) they would not be further incapacitated. All others (including the lazy who can't use a rake!) would be banned at all times -- including town employees. I"ve recently -- this week -- watched several town employees blowing junk from one side of the street to the other. It's a waste of energy, time, ozone and my hearing and vision ( the town employee did not even stop blowing in my direction as I passed him on the street -- just kept blowing dirt towards me).

I also care for my yard myself -- without power tools. It certainly was done for many years that way!

Why stop the ban in the fall? I'm really sick of my neighbors and their lawn crews blowing their leaves in my yard! If I had a leaf blower I think I'd just stand there and low them all back! How useful!

Anonymous said...

I'M A FEINER FAN BECAUSE HE FOCUSES ON QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES

Anonymous said...

me too

Anonymous said...

RIGHT ON; FEINER ALL THE WAY FOR A BETTER GREENBURGH.

Anonymous said...

Blowers are not the problem.What is needed is more laws concerning how to make things cleaner. Not all the residents have trees on their properties, but they are loaded with leaves why. Leaves should not be left curbside for pickup. They should be bagged. In another blog it was stated that the people that live in Edgemont have mega bucks,if that is true they would not mind bagging their leaves.Is this so difficult,I don't think so.Let's start this program and we can see if it works,if not you could go back to you old system, You cannot say no,if you dont try.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I was reading the local paper today, the headline is Mt. Kisco Cops get support. Deputy Mayor expects officers to be cleared.

Would be nice if the Town of Greenburgh Police Department Officers had YOUR SUPPORT in the upcomming federal law suit mess that you have created !!!!

Should be funny when you come ask the POLICE OFFICERS for their support in your upcomming election ...... just makes me laugh

Anonymous said...

Hi Fellow Townspeople!

For those of you who think that this matter is not a big deal, or otherwise unworthy of their attention, I invite you to come to the lovely section of Edgemont so that you can see first hand what is happening here, day in and day out. The noise and air pollution is downright dangerous, and unless something is done about it, and the existing laws are enforced, let alone new ones, it will only get worse. I just bet that some of those who don't see this as a critical issue are definitely nowhere near their home during the week, when the problem is absolutely intolerable.

For those folks who are concerned about the extra money that it might cost them if crews actually remove some of the debris manually, what would be better in the long run--hearing damage or lung problems?
Please wake up!