| Newton MA News and Politics Blog

The Newton leaf blower ordinance states that all leaf blowers above 65 decibels are prohibited. This site reports that talking three feet away has a noise level of 65 decibels. I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall any leaf blower being that quiet.

But what happens when you have three leaf blowers operating simultaneously? Even if each blower is under 65 decibels, I’m guessing that the combined noise is well above that.  In this case, the combined noise–inside my car as I drove into the driveway–made it impossible to hear my car radio. Even in the house, we could not carry out a conversation as the trio blew by our house.

I called Inspectional Services and left a message with all the details, including the name and phone number of the firm, as suggested in this City brochure, and there was no call back and, as far as I know, no follow-up.