Since new leaf blower restrictions took effect this year, Newton police have received hundreds of complaints from residents, putting a strain on their resources, WBZ reports.
WBZ: Nearly half of 320 leaf blower complaints came from 15 people
by Greg Reibman | Oct 20, 2017 | Newton | 36 comments
Does anyone know how many of the 320 complaints resulted in fines?
Is that a lot? a little? What’s a “normal” number of people who would generate half the complaints? And BTW, the article says “nearly half”, not “half”.
Here is the story that goes along with the video and map of the reports. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/10/16/newton-police-leaf-blower-ban-complaints/
“A list of incidents WBZ obtained show that about 75 percent of the time, when an officer arrived at the property, the landscaping company was either gone, not using a leaf blower, or following the rules.”
The link Doug just shared also includes a map and details about each complaint.
I like the leaf blower ordinance. I think it was a well crafted compromise, except for the enforcement component. Having patrol officers focused on leaf blower violations is a poor use of their time. Perhaps parking enforcement personnel or Inspectional Services would be a smarter choice.
Perhaps the police department should buy those 15 people noiseless Bose headphones. It would be a better use of the city resources.
I agree with Mike Striar. I am a fan of the ordinance, but I don’t think we should be calling the police. It’s a bad use of resources.
It’s very difficult to enforce to begin with…our neighbor’s landscaper has violated the ordinance more than a few times. They use the leafblowers egregiously, meaning the ENTIRE lot is less than 2000 sq feet, yet they send out an entire team to blow leaves – mostly they just blow them on to my driveway! ALL summer! Anyway, I gave them a “grace period” and even talked to them. I hate to waste the police department’s time on this, but this type of use of leafblowers seems so inappropriate that I’d really like them to stop.
Could you correct the headline? 42% is not half. Looking at the map it looks like the calls were disbursed pretty evenly across town.
I agree there needs to be a better way to enforce this ordinance. One thought – instead of trying to monitor the sound level, check the equipment. If the landscapers are using leafblowers above 65 decibels (sound levels are on all leafblowers), fine them or the property owner who hired them.
Leafblower noise is measured at 50 feet away from the leafblower. A standard 85-decibel leafblower is 102 decibels at source (ie person holding it). 102 decibels is harmful to hearing after 10 minutes. Hearing loss is cumulative and irreversible.
According to the CDC 1 out of 4 adults in the US has a hearing loss and most do not realize it. “the latest CDC Vital Signs report shows that much of this damage is from loud sounds encountered during everyday activities at home and in the community.” https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0207-hearing-loss.html
One of the 42%, who would like to thank the other 185 people (58%) who called in about leafblower noise!
The headline has been updated.
According to the article “Brookline also saw a surge of complaints when its leaf blower ordinance first hit the books several years ago, but calls have been steadily dropping, according Deputy Superintendent Michael Gropman, a spokesman for the police department.” I’m sure that will happen here.
The change the police chief made was for only one person to respond to a call. Why were multiple officers responding to calls anyway?
This ordinance is a good compromise and it’s already been hashed out extensively. I’m sure there are ways to make it work well for everyone. Of course people should make sure it is a leaf blower without a manufacture’s label saying 65db before calling and the landscaper who says a can of compressed air does as good a job as a 65db leaf blower needs an attitude adjustment.
@Marti,
I think the multiple officers responding actually meant only 1 Officer at any given time tied up on a leaf blower call rather than multiple officers tied up at the same time for numerous calls.
Although I agree that some level of ordinance was necessary, the problems here are the issue. Using Police resources for these complaints is a terrible waste. I would not be happy if there was a serious crime or situation occurring and the police were tied up with these calls.
The bigger problem appears to be that people don’t understand the limits of the ordinance. Landscapers can actually work in the City! They can use lawnmowers and weed whackers and hedge trimmers. They can even use leaf blowers! Really, they can.
Gas powered leaf blowers must be rated at 65db or less and can be used up until Memorial Day and after Labor Day. In the time period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the only blowers that can be used must be electric or battery powered. Pretty simple to follow these guidelines.
What is not simple is the “vigilante” callers who are reporting ANY work being done by landscapers, even those that are actually in compliance. Just because you see a leaf blower in use does not automatically make it a violation. Just because a landscaper is working does not mean he is breaking the law.
I will also add that ONE electric or battery-powered leaf blower of 65 decibels or less is allowed per lot in the summertime!
Another violation that often is ignored is the pool drainage problem. On my street there is one home owner that repeatedly empties her inground pool water into the street catch basin. This is not right but no one stops her.
I received a call last night from the Newton Firefighters Association for a donation. I told the caller that when I see them doing a visibility for Scott Lennon, I lay on my horn and wave to them!
Is asked the caller if he lives in Newton, and if I could have his vote on November 7. He said that he heard Dan Rea say that he is voting for me on WBZ 1030 on Wednesday night’s show! WOW! Unsolicited and appreciated! #EndorsementsThatMatter
We should all honk as we pass Karen Bray’s house to thank her for her efforts.
fantastic local reporting by WBZ.
It’s a poor ordinance BECAUSE it’s extremely difficult to enforce. What’s more important: hiring another teacher or hiring a leaf blower inspector? And you can’t have both and keep Newton affordable.
I’m glad Karen can finally admit this ordinance drives up landscaping costs, which the costs to implement the ordinance–including time wasted by the police–was never fully evaluated.
Green Newton’s web-site has a list of landscapers who
” Understand and abide by Newton’s New Leaf Blower Ordinance (implemented 1/17/17)
Work in Newton
Will rake if asked, and, occasionally use electric or, in some cases, gas-powered leaf blowers
Are stewards of the Earth”
(https://www.greennewton.org/resources/organic-gardening-composting-faqs/)
Our police should not spend time chasing leaf-blower violations. That’s just foolish.
Until someone comes up with a more reasonable way to enforce the ordinance, it should not be in effect. It’s bad governance to create unenforceable law and the Council should recognize that they made an error and rescind the leaf-blower ordinance.
To make it worse, they’ve created neighborhood vigilante yahoos who demand that the police spend time chasing landscapers. To say nothing of the tear in our neighborhood fabric by pitting neighbors against each other.
Ms Bray’s cavalier attitude towards the increased costs and effort associated with this law and the Council’s willingness to pass it, illuminates the hypocrisy of calls for “aging in place” and “keeping housing affordable”.
.
Terry and David – Where are the increased costs? Have we hired extra police or paid them overtime? Are you opposed to the police enforcing all noise complaints – neighbor’s dog barking non-stop at 3 am – midnight McMansion construction – or just this one?
There were several loud and well attended public meetings in City Hall before the ordinance was passed on leafblowers. The ordinance did not tear our neighborhood fabric, it just shifted the annoyance from the con leafblowers to the pro leafblowers.
Lucia,
There is a cost, financial and productivity-wise, (to say nothing of safety) when we add busy work to our professional police department. Stay tuned for the next contract negotiations. It adds cost to homeowners who, for whatever reason, cannot or choose not, to clear the leaves themselves. I know many elderly and/or infirm who can do most things for themselves but cannot clear leaves and now, cannot find a landscaper for the big fall cleanup due to the ordinance.
No, I am not opposed to our police enforcing the law (including noise, construction, etc). That’s why we need to make sure that we have laws that can be consistently and uniformly enforced. This law is very difficult and time consuming to enforce properly and frankly encourages scofflaws.
I’m glad that your neighborhood is happy. I’ve seen a very different story. It’s pretty juicy and I’ll happily share with you at our next Bloggers night out.
For the record, I bought an electric leaf-blower (no scofflaw I!). Unfortunately, electrics are too weak to push leaves when the season is in full glory.
Lucia, watch the video. The police, landscapers and anti-blower all agree the landscaping cost more (KB says, “Newton residents can pay a little more…”) and the current rate of calls is not a good use of city resources.
Did you think the police were just taking naps and now because you’re calling them they have something to do!
“Are you opposed to the police enforcing all noise complaints – neighbor’s dog barking non-stop at 3 am-midnight McMansion construction – or just this one?”
@Lucia YES!!!!!
I would never, even as much THINK of calling the police to complain about noise! You have no idea how ridiculous that sounds to me.
A dog barking, a neighbor’s party, fireworks, leaf blowers, racing Harleys on the Pike at 3 am, drones buzzing – Maybe the contractor building the McMantion has 7 am inspection he’s trying to meet. Good for him for trying to do his best to meet a deadline and make a living.
How is it that a neighbor who bothers you by simply living their life is somehow stomping on your rights? I really do try to see things from both sides, but often folks in this town are too precious and self-absorbed for my blood.
To all the landscapers who did follow the new law this summer and didn’t use gas leaf blowers: Thank you very much for the so much more peaceful and healthier summer you gave all of us in Newton! I’m sure i’m not the only one who appreciates the difference your consideration made in our lives!
@David M – You’re right. I should have qualified my statement better, I meant only increased costs to the City of Newton.
@Mike C – I’d rather have drones buzzing.
@ Terry – Looking forward to the beer!
There are a lot of interesting points here. First, when you consider how many people DON’T report leaf blower violations, it’s clear that lots of landscapers and homeowners continue to violate the law. My guess is that violations are still the rule, not the exception. Second, 25% of the calls did result in the police observing a violation. I assume that there was at least a warning issued in those cases. That is significant in terms of changing the behavior of the users. Of the other 75% we don’t know how many were actually complying with the law, how many got away because the police arrived when they were gone, and how many happened not to be using the leaf blowers when the police arrived, even though the leaf blowers were illegal, and we know the landscapers do not carry them around for show.
The new leaf blower law passed 20-4. From that I take it that it had wide support, although it was bitterly opposed by a minority of the voters. Does the City Council enact laws that it intends the police not to enforce? That would be odd. In fact, the City Council changed the law so that it would be easier to enforce, and it is. People of at least average intelligence (this would include all of the City Council, but I acknowledged that there will be some disagreement on that point) know that enforcement means the police have to be involved (I have had no luck even getting somebody at Inspectional Services to pick up the phone, so I call the police). The complaints about how the police have better things to do was heard many times by the City Council and they voted in the new law anyway. Why? Because the people wanted it, and they want it enforced. Otherwise, you might as well not have it, as was proved by the old, unenforceable law. The landscapers were very clear in public meetings that they had no intention of complying voluntarily. They even brought 77 dB leaf blowers to demonstrate to the City Council and said they used them all the time, even though they knew this was illegal! No enforcement equals no law. We want the law, and that means we must have enforcement.
If we really want enforcement without the police, we need a dedicated city employee who drives around giving tickets all day until the landscapers and homeowners finally accept that this is the way it’s going to be. I don’t see that happening, so it will have to be the police. The more enforcement, the sooner people will realize that this is the new normal (just as with cigarettes, seat belts, etc.) and behavior changes. That will take some time. Eventually, the calls will tail off because the violations will tail off, if experience teaches us anything.
Thus, we need lots and lots of calls and lots and lots of tickets until the new normality is established. But if you hear a violation, don’t wait until you are at a full, rolling boil to call the police. Do it immediately. That will give the police more time to get there and observe the violation.
Legal leaf blowers are very annoying, but they are legal. If used during the permitted hours, there is nothing you can do about them. Accept it (I’m buying noise blocking curtains, which is another example of expense falling on innocent people as the result of the leaf blowers). It’s a bad idea to call the police for every leaf blower you see. Educate yourself as to the sound and appearance of the different leaf blowers so that you’ll never call in a legal leaf blower.
Now if you want real enforceability, let’s have a rule against leaf blowers powered by internal combustion engines. Then, anyone will be able to tell the difference instantly and there won’t be any more spurious calls.
Since my post of a few hours ago, my wife returned from a walk. She told me the following. While she was out she ran across a landscaper using an illegal leaf blower. She asked him if he knew that he was using an illegal leaf blower. He said he knew, and went right back to using it.
I suspect that if the police had stopped by, the result would have been different. That guy is going to have to pay a few fines before he switches to a 65 dB leaf blower. He still thinks he can get away with it.
But if we stay on top of him, the economics of using illegal leaf blowers will become unfavorable for him and the problem will be solved, at least for one violator. Eventually, the word will get around that Newton is serious about its leaf blower law. Then we will have a better place, and it will be largely because of the efforts of a few people who call the police over and over.
One minor comment. People who call the police are not vigilantes Vigilantes don’t call the police, they take the law into their own hands – ie ‘undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority.’ People who call the police are working within our legal and governmental systems. They would be called citizens.
Quotes from above:
“neighborhood vigilante yahoos who demand that the police spend time chasing landscapers” “What is not simple is the “vigilante” callers who are reporting ANY work being done by landscapers”
@Lucia
Good point. “vigilante” is the wrong word. I think my grandmother used to call these people ‘busy-bodies’
Busy-Bodies it is then!
I just read this thread and wondered if there is an easy way to record decibel levels. I found more than 20 decibel reader apps for a smart phone that were either free or 99¢. Police would not have to be called if neighbors could simply record video of the landscapers at work with a decibel reading screen shot from their app. If Newton were to institute some kind of landscaper licensing program (great way to make up for enforcement costs), where landscapers would lose their license if they had multiple complaints, this law would have teeth and be fully citizen enforced with no worry of taking police away from public safety duties.
@Karen: A coalition of Newton landscapers, golf course operators, local colleges and the chamber proposed a registration system as a compromise to a ban during the legislative process. In addition to paying a registration fee, the landscapers offered to help with training and to create educational materials, which would have included a summary of the rules in various languages. This coalition felt registration would have improved enforcement as well because then any contractor found on a site without being registered could have been ticketed and any registered violators could be easily tracked and risk losing their permit, a much more significant penalty than a fine. And the registration fees would have covered costs to administer this program.
Unfortunately this proposal was rejected at the committee level and never went before the full board for consideration.
{Greg: typo entering my name] What was the argument against a coalition of responsible tradesmen who were willing to pay a permit fee and participate in regulation? That doesn’t make sense. Any new law that might take police or other resources to enforce should have some kind of permit or fee involved, if possible — like how dog licenses in theory fund animal control officers, restaurant permits fund health inspectors, building permits fund building inspectors, etc. If there were enough landscaper licenses issued, they could have possibly funded a noise enforcement role (possibly also applied to construction work.)
@Karen: I agree! I think you should ask the dockers that question. I think it was a program that should have at least been tried before rejecting.
The law is the law, folks. This is very simple. Don’t make it complicated.
This was a compromise that no one liked. I’ve yet to formally report a landscaper. I haven’t had to, but perhaps that is just my neighborhood. But I certainly would, and will, if they violate the law.
I think I would have been more inclined to do so during the summer, and the rules were clear then, and didn’t require an indepth analysis to determine if the law was being broken.
But let’s stop the whining, and the concern trolling about our police. The police get calls about all sorts of noise compliants, disturbances, etc. Should this be a police matter? Not really. More like parking meter enforcement, which isn’t done by the police but by the city. But until the city decides that, it is part of the job of the police. I’d welcome the switch. But until then, the City Council gave this to the police to enforce. And it isn’t wrong, incorrect, improper, unfair, or any other “I’ve got the vapors” attitude for folks to call the police to report folks breaking the law.
If the police feel that they are being tasked to enforce the law in an inefficient manner, I fully expect that the police chief will take that up with the City Council and the Mayor. And he should. But until that happens, and until the city council puts something else into place, I expect the law to be unheld by the police in the same manner they uphold the other laws.
For the record, there are lots of laws I’m not a huge fan of and that I think are unfair. Street parking in the winter being banned. The need for zoning within 7 feet of a property line. The fact I can’t play Weird Al at 3 am at full blast while wearing nothing but a toga and a tierra. But hey, we live in a community of laws, this was a compromise from a full ban, and folks shouldn’t blame those who actually care enough to enforce the law or report the lawbreakers.
Why not cast the blame where it belongs, on the landscaping crews who don’t respect our city enough to obey the rules. You don’t like the rules? Elect new City Councilors and a Mayor who agrees with your position. That’s democracy. You don’t get to pick and choose the rules you follow, and if you can’t follow the rules, don’t do business in my city.
This is very simple. The law was debated for years. It was passed. Follow the law.
And Terry, I’ve been using an electric blower for years. The only time it doesn’t do the job is when the leaves are wet. Wait for some dry weather and try again. Not being snarky, it really does work fine, and I’ve got the cheapest blower on the market (39.99 at Home Depot I believe from a few years back). And I’ve got an insane number of leaves that blow into my yard. Same is true for my mower btw. Doesn’t work all that well on wet grass.
I certainly understand the frustration of the police officer who complained that only 25% of the responses find violations. But I don’t think it is a waste of resources, for two reasons. First, there are no other resources available. If there were a viable alternative, calling the police would be a waste of resources, but there isn’t.
Second, it’s working. Even though only 25% of the responses find violations, each warning or citation has an effect, and not only on that one landscaper. The word gets around, and a warning give to one landscaper might affect the behavior of several. We are seeing results already. I’ve called a few times (and each time the police found an illegal leaf blower), but already there have been times when I didn’t have to call. When the landscapers saw that somebody was watching, they desisted. Things are moving in the right direction. Believe it or not, there are even landscapers out there using 65 dB leaf blowers! I’ve seen them.
Although I hate to pollute this page with facts, the experience in Santa Monica was that for awhile after they banned leaf blowers they had a lot of calls; over time the number of calls decreased significantly. Why? I’m not sure, but one logical explanation would be that as compliance with the law increased, there were fewer complaints. I think we are going to reach that point here sooner than expected.