(This post was co-authored by Karen Bray and Bob Jampol)
In 2017 Newton’s City Council passed an ordinance that states that all leaf blowers, all year round, must be no louder than 65 decibels. In addition, between Memorial Day and Labor Day onIy one electric leaf blower at a time may be used per property. Some citizens, after observing landscapers employing multiple leaf blowers at once out of season, have complained to the city about it. Unfortunately, this ordinance has yet to be rigorously enforced. The Newton Police and Inspectional Services are in charge of enforcement, but for various reasons few fines have been levied, and the situation has improved but slowly. Fortunately, those residents purchasing their own leaf blowers (we recommend using rakes) are turning almost universally to electric models, which operate more quietly.
Much work remains to be done, and many residents are frustrated by the noise, pollution, and disruption still created by leaf blowers, especially when windows are open. City government should require all landscapers who work in Newton to review our leaf blower ordinance and pledge to conform to its restrictions on leaf blower use. Passing such an ordinance would make the job easier for the police because landscapers could not claim ignorance of the rules already in place.
The Covid Pandemic has hastened the long-term trend towards working from home. This spring, as temperatures warm and the percentage of those protected by Covid vaccinations continues to climb, many of us will open our windows for a breath of fresh air. Others will head outdoors to stroll, ride bicycles, visit friends, and dine and shop in village centers. We all deserve an environment largely free of the noise and particulate pollution caused by leaf blowers. Please support those councilors seeking to improve the enforcement of our leaf blower ordinance.
Bob,
I was wondering if you have called IS or NPD when your neighbor(s) landscapers have their leaf blowers blaring. I’d be curious to hear how things were handled. My neighbors all have landscapers and the noise is something that we all deal with M-S from March til Nov. I think Newton has bigger fish to fry such as getting the pool fixed for the kids, schools open full time for all students, after school activities, and more street barriers in West Newton.
When it comes to causes, it’s not an either/or, of course. Karen Bray has been organizing residents aroundthe hazards of leaf blowers for many years. Many places across the country have banned the use of leaf blowers altogether. Newton is taking a moderate approach in hopes of finding a livable compromise. The industry keeps suggesting that a quieter, non-polluting leaf blower is just around the corner. Sadly, it hasn’t arrived yet, and even the quietest will stir up far more particulate matter than the most vigorous raking could.
By the way, I support just about all the causes you enumerated above and even work on some of them…lots of ways to improve life in the Garden City.
@Ken, It’s terrific that you like the noise! The exhaust fumes and clouds of dust containing insecticides, fertilizer, dog sh’t, etc., etc., are a real healthy benefit, too. Enjoy! (Great for the kids to breathe, too!) Yea! Blast those darn leaves and all the other stuff into the street and air! What the heck!
The fact that more people are working from hime makes this all the more important. Some of us need to make professional recordings and it has been impossible to schedule around when the noise will or won’t occur.
No one like the noise, fumes, or clouds of dust they produce. But It’s been my experience that the operators are courteous and shut-off the leaf blower as you pass them on the sidewalk or on street.
Love when I am on a client call, and my neighbor’s landscaper arrives and uses four gas powered leaf blowers.
Sure it is only 15 minutes
But after they leave, I can see that instead of landscaping they just blew all the miscellaneous twigs and sticks to the gutter. They cleaned the lawn but left the neighborhood a mess.
Not quite sure why all four guys need to blow the stuff around.
When did landscaping becoming more than mowing the lawn but taking every thing that is not attached to the ground to the curb. If you want the stuff gone, habe the landscaper remove it. Not leave it every week in the gutter. Which by the way, I then clean the sewer grate because it is clogged.
Will the whining never stop?
I open my windows and am exposed to plenty of sounds that break the silence. I live near a major thoroughfare in Newton so cars are constantly driving by well in excess of the speed limit often. Perhaps I should be calling the police or asking Mr. Jampol for his Shakespearean-level assistance in composing a blog post. I am not far from an elementary school which means kids are yelling and screaming (mostly in enjoyment) on a near constant basis once the weather warms. My neighbors also seem to have children as well as active social lives which yes, includes the creation of outdoor noise. And oh my, how could I have left for last the racket of those darned garbage trucks as they make their way through the neighborhood on what seems like a weekly basis. All in all though, I manage to muddle through without calling 311, 911, or selfishly asking my Aldermen to create an unenforceable ordinance.
Why you may ask? Because I chose to live in Newton, an affluent and reasonably built-up suburb in a major metropolitan area. These, leaf blowers included, are the sounds that any reasonable adult should expect in such an environment. If I wanted silence and a reasonable right to impose such a desire on my neighbors, there are plenty of other places I could have settled. My choice would be the Berkshires. I am sure you, good reader, have your own. The point is, obviously, that all the hoopla about blowers is much more an indication of the lengths to which some, ironically loud, Newtonians will go to impose their definition of the “good life” on the rest of us. It is really rather sad.
As for the public health claim as advanced by the likes of Mr. Blumensteil, please give it a rest. There are plenty of bad things out there. Few are lethal. When the CDC starts issuing warnings about leaf blowers then perhaps we have something about which to worry. (Yes, I know that they pose a risk to the operators, but those are not the people relevant in this discussion. It is the impact on the long-suffering, sensitive-eared residents of Newton such as Mr. Jampol and Ms. Bray that concerns us here.). If Mr Blumensteil, finds himself constantly immersed in a Pigpen-like cloud of leaf blower detritus then perhaps he has bigger fish to fry.
Thank you @Elmo! Yes-These are the expected noises of the suburbs. My landscaper is in and out of my yard in 20 min. Vacuums up all the debris and is gone. No clouds of anything left behind.
Call the police because you hear a leaf blower. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?
Or, Elmo, since none of that stuff bothers you, maybe you should move to Manhattan, which is where i moved to Newton from, to get away from it, 52 years ago. Yes, of course Newton’s still a whole lot better, no thanks to the landscapers, though, sad to say.
Sure, we live in a dense city/suburb that has all sorts of issues to deal with, but the noise and debris pollution caused by excessive leaf blower use is preventable. There is no reason residents and landscaping companies can’t comply reasonably.
Of course, it would be nice if the city followed its own ordinance. Just last week, I called Parks & Rec because the landscaping company the city hired to pick up the leaves* in the small park on Nonantum Place. They were using multiple non-complying blowers for more than three hours. P&R was responsive; when they called me back after talking to the landscaper, they said they were told they had left the correct blowers “in the wrong truck.” At least they didn’t say the dog ate it, I guess.
As for cops, I have called police on rare occasions, such as when the landscapers servicing the parking garage at Two Newton Place were using non-complying blowers to “sweep” the parking garage at 7am on a Sunday (yes, they are using leaf blowers to sweep dust on concrete, which boggles the mind).
So yes, we should have better enforcement- but the city needs to eat its own cornflakes on this issue.
*and yes, I appreciate the city takes care of the park, though I wish they would be as responsive to massive tree limbs falling on the playground and endangering playing children as they would be to the “menace” of leaves.
I ride my bike on a 8 mile loop through Newton almost every day during the summer, at least once a week I experience the leaf blowers on the public streets blowing storm cloud particulates, I usually end up with particulate matter stuck in my eyes an ideal way to spend my day At the emergency room at a hospital. Early morning summer days are a nice time to open the windows and experience the birds chirping or just have breakfast outside on the patio, but oh no, here come the landscapers, hurry hurry shut all the window and doors before the debri and gas fumes from the blower bellow into our homes, a real health crisis we need to deal with a.s.a.p.
Thanks to Amy Sangiolo’s weekly digest I see ….. the City Council’s Program & Services committee will be discussing possible revisions to the Leafblower Ordinance this Wed (4/7) at 7 PM at their next Zoom meeting..
If you’ve got a dog in the leafblower fights, that’s the place to be heard.
A timely post. Just a couple of days ago there was the loudest racket I’ve heard in a long time near my house. I counted 7, yes 7, leaf blowers at once on a neighbor’s property. On a small lot, and a densely built block, so the noise was magnified. I went out to the property and couldn’t even get close to the workers due to the dust cloud. I waved my arms so they stopped and I spoke to one. I assume a crew chief. He seemed to think that they were compliant because EACH blower was compliant. Ha! Our cordial discussion included me pointing out that these conditions were also bad for the workers, who didn’t have noise-canceling headphones (apparently “in the truck”) and only one worker had goggles. After I left they finished up with 2 blowers. I guess I’ve been naive to assume that landscape business owners assure that their employees to comply with local as well as OSHA regulations.
A timely post. Just a couple of days ago there was the loudest racket I’ve heard in a long time near my house. I counted 7, yes 7, leaf blowers at once on a neighbor’s property. On a small lot, and a densely built block, so the noise was magnified. I went out to the property and couldn’t even get close to the workers due to the dust cloud. I waved my arms so they stopped and I spoke to one. I assume a crew chief. He seemed to think that they were compliant because EACH blower was compliant. Ha! Our cordial discussion included me pointing out that these conditions were also bad for the workers, who didn’t have noise-canceling headphones (apparently “in the truck”) and only one worker had goggles. After I left they finished up with 2 blowers. I guess I’ve been naive to assume that landscape business owners assure that their employees comply with local as well as OSHA regulations.
@alexB
We do not have a landscaper nor will we ever have one. In fact, our kids do chores as assigned by the season. I’m on the road 40 weeks (back in Charlotte this week) a year and give them a hand when Im home. My wife works at a non profit and has limited time to do much. Kids know their roles and have adapted well since they were 8 yrs old. More kids should do blue collar work. IMO it will bode well for their future. Truly so much is given to kids in Newton without any effort.
Here is a cool story..Just last week our three kids did spring yard work without a leaf blower. They hand raked the dead grass, pulled leaves from shrub area, mulched, and planted new flowers. Few hours of labor and our yard looks amazing. All while they inhaled the pollutants from the nearby landscapers without wasting NPD or IS time.
At least some people in this thread get it…Good day.
Let’s look to what some of our neighboring communities have done on this issue, including enforcement.
As to the idea that the police have better things to do than enforce these issues, I agree. That’s is why we have parking enforcement folks that are different than police.
Assign a parking enforcement employee one day a week to monitor this, include a fine for non-compliance for both the landscaper and a double fine for the house that hired them). I get fined if I don’t park in the right area, the city uses fines all the time to encourage correct behaviors. Have the fines increase per offense.
The compromise ordinance was a good solution, but only works if enforced. Otherwise, we are back to square one, and the next step with be a ban (don’t have to deal with nuance with a ban). And it is unfair to the landscapers to have some parties comply with the law, and others break the law and get a competitive advantage.
I don’t understand why the above can’t happen.
Over here in Needham the town has been through several rounds of serious illness and disease linked to environmental factors, e.g. Microwave Development Laboratories’ contamination of the Hillside elementary school site with trichloroethene, a cluster of brain and CNS cancers around Needham Junction linked to chemical spills, and cancer and asthma clusters around Valley Road linked to high concentrations of exhaust from Route 128.
So, having grown up here, the impact of any kind of pollutant on kids’ health is the absolute last thing I’d be inclined to make fun of. But all parents are different, I guess.
@fignewtonville. YES! Right on!
@Ken L Your kids shouldn’t have to breathe that! (http://www.lincolntown.org/DocumentCenter/View/733/PEHSU_Eastchester_letter_042210_1_?bidId=) And, by the way, my Dad was a landscape/gardener, I grew up in the business, and worked with him and the crew from when i was a little kid. i got a degree in Ornamental Horticulture with a landscaping major from the State University of New York and had my own business in it before going into other things. Never used leaf blowers. There’s no excuse for using leaf blowers. Just keep your thumbs up on the fan-rake handle and use a sweeping motion! It’s Great that your kids are doing this! It sure is far, far from great that they have to breathe that filth from the current crop of landscapers!
I fully support the existing ordinance, and gradually strengthening that ordinance to phase out the use of all gasoline powered blowers in Newton. There are problems with the ordinance though, and they need to be fixed.
The primary problem is enforcement. It is a misuse of resources for police officers to enforce a leaf blower ordinance. I like the suggestion fig made to use parking enforcement personnel for leaf blower enforcement. The City Council should provide the additional funding needed to do the job effectively.
Landscapers are the principal violators of the leaf blower ordinance. They are all aware that the ordinance exists, but it makes their job harder so they don’t comply. I think that it makes more sense for all parties to incentivize landscaper compliance, rather than financially penalize non-compliance [which has not worked]. The City should allow landscapers to use multiple electric leaf blowers to clear a residential property, while continuing to tighten the restrictions on gasoline powered blowers. Multiple electric blowers will increase noise incrementally, but they also substantially reduce the amount of time it takes landscapers to clear a property, and the length of time that neighbors are impacted by the noise.
I highly doubt that the city counselors who passed this ordinance had any interest in enforcing this… If they did they would’ve done what they do with snow removal, which is fine the homeowner… It appears that this was a compromise to use the police and to fine the landscaper… But certainly the ordinance resulted in no change so it needs to be upgraded or removed..my strong preference is to properly enforce it
Police should not be spending their time with this quality of life issue, and landscapers should not be fined especially since that’s not working…
Fine the homeowner!!!
Why not organize an auxiliary group to monitor compliance with the leaf blower ordinance? It could resemble those monitoring parking meters and ticketing those violating parking regulations. The police need not be involved, and the collection of fines would subsidize the salaries of such a force.
Newton prides itself on being a welcoming community and with many inviting density…
…yet feel the need to control their neighbors’ behaviors. Today it’s leaf blowers, what’s next, gasoline burning cars? Charcoal burning grills? Demand houses to be repainted if it’s current color does not meet their neighbors’ acceptance?
Density will not work unless neighbors are tolerant with one another. Live and let live.
https://youtu.be/Ni12Pw_nbO8
I just ran past a house on Bullough Park (across from the pond) that has a crew of 9 … yes, nine … gas powered backpack leaf blowers going full bore. The noise could be heard from the other side of Commonwealth Ave and the cloud of debris was visible from 100 yards away. Several people were walking dogs and running along this popular normally quiet road. It was almost impossible to pass the house even with a mask and glasses on.
This is not about intolerance, this is about the health and well-being of the community. Such actions do not create a “welcoming community” and the health concerns to the neighborhood alone should be of concern (for the record, none of the workers were wearing masks which even under non-COVID times is a concern with so much airborne material). At some point we need to hold landscapers accountable for their actions. And if not the landscapers then the home owners who hire these companies.
So, @Matt, it’s just fine when your child is miserably sick in bed at home on a hot summer’s day, and the exhaust, dust and noise from the four gas leaf blowers the landscaper’s crew is using next door (with no protection of their own) are getting into her room, and everywhere else in your house, even with all the windows closed! Hey, the neighbors are paying them, after all, and it’s “Live and let live”! (I don’t know why anybody actually has to say this!)
@Mr. Reed. Thank you. You said it. No decent community puts up with that behavior.
I find it laughable that Matt Lai, of all people, says “live and let live” yet he wants to highly restrict new development.
Given the shortfall in city revenue, particularly since parking meter enforcement has been on hiatus for a year, you’d think they’d view this as a prime opportunity to put a few bucks in the city’s piggy bank.
For those who are concerned about the pollution that leaf blowers cause, I assume you don’t drive or fly any longer. These two modes of transportation contribute far far more to polluting our environment than these silly city ordinances.
“The hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yard work with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor,” said Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor at Edmunds.com. “As ridiculous as it may sound, it is more ‘green’ to ditch your yard equipment and find a way to blow leaves using a Raptor.”(https://www.edmunds.com/about/press/leaf-blowers-emissions-dirtier-than-high-performance-pick-up-trucks-says-edmunds-insidelinecom.html)
Bruce C, that’s a dubious claim:
https://www.11alive.com/mobile/article/news/verify/verify-is-pollution-from-a-leaf-blower-equal-to-a-cross-country-drive/85-757cbe86-dc29-4a6e-b2cb-0e6b73c8a850
@Alec and @Nathan- There are many more cars than there are leaf blowers. One person does not drive from here to Texas only one time. In the aggregate, cars and planes contribute overall to a greater amount of pollution than the number of leaf blowers in existence. I am not comparing them one to one nor am I saying that leaf blowers aren’t tools of pollution and annoyances to quiet residents. What I am saying is there exists a tremendous amount of hypocrisy amongst people in affluent communities such as Newton.
@Bruce C and @Nathan Philips. i agree with you both. Putting the carbon and other pollutants from millions of years of accumulated and buried organic matter back into the atmosphere over a couple of hundred years is way beyond stupid, no matter what it’s used for. But, it seems that, at the moment, anyway, we’re trapped into this by the current transportation and industrial infrastructures. Not so for leaf blowers. Those we certainly can do without.
Bruce, driving and flying is a necessity for a lot of people. Using a leaf blower is not, it’s a luxury. I don’t think your comparison works at all.
Mary- I would agree that driving and, in some case, flying, is a necessity, but I would argue that we drive or fly more than what is actually necessary. Pre-pandemic, it was a luxury for may affluent people (and I am not referring to the uber rich) to drive weekly to their summer homes, vacations to ski, partake in leisure air travel, and go on cruises. These all are activities that are optional and do far more damage to the environment than leaf blowers. If you enjoy those optional activities, by all means enjoy. However, I would say if you partake in any of these optional activities and then dig in your heels about pollutants caused by leafblowers, you are being hypocritical.
@Bruce C Very well put! From what you wrote, I take it you mean that each and every one of us should either do anything and everything we want, no matter what it is, or only do what’s absolutely necessary to survive! No discretion needed. I take it that that’s the example you are setting. Question is, which one? (Yeah, right!)
@Alec- My point is that many people are hypocritical. They’ll complain about the pollution of leaf blowers, but then don’t really think of the consequences of their own personal actions on the environment.
The time and energy that our elected officials spend to pass these silly piecemeal ordinances makes people feel good, but really are burdensome and unenforceable. Having police enforce it is not a good use of resources. Having a city department enforce it is not a good use of resources. Setting up an auxiliary force to ensure compliance creates bureaucracy and is not a good use of time. Surely, there are more pressing issues with which the city council should be dealing. And if there aren’t, then perhaps they should not create ways to intrude on people’s lives.
@Bruce C. Your response leads to another question: How would you enforce it? Responding that you wouldn’t ever vote to pass such legislation or wouldn’t enforce, it if was your responsibility to do so, won’t really answer the question. It is in fact the law, and has to be enforced, or what’s the use of any laws? You’re obviously very intelligent,.. … so, can you solve this problem? (And, by the way, as so many of the other responses to this have said, the use of leaf blowers is, in fact, a blatant and serious intrusion into other people’s lives.)
@Alex B., not worried about dust getting into our home, because we don’t live in a McTownhouse/McDuplex built to the limits of the lot. Our house may be small, but we got setbacks! Besides not buying into the (ok, get ready…) “fear mongering” that blowers is a national health crisis. 🙂
@MMQC…the “live and let live” comment is deserved and I did have pause before hitting [submit]. Ultimately it’s a question of which comes first…chicken or egg. Reciprocally, how can Newton complain about noise while pushing got density (while it’s by product is more people, crowding, pollution and noise)?
65 dB at what distance? You have to have distance in the equation.
btw the pike is about 100 dB right across from Trio during the AM weekday.
The pike is over 50 dB on my porch at the same time. Such is living a block from the pike.
@Rick Frank – 65dB at 50 foot distance
This month’s National Geographic cover is The Fight for Clean Air. The article inside attributes 15% of COVID deaths to particulate matter, which is more immediately harmful to human health than CO2 emissions.
“Leaf blowers push 300 to 700 cubic feet of air per minute at 150 to 280 MPH. The resulting dust can contain PM2. 5 and PM10 particles including pollen and mold, animal feces, heavy metals, and chemicals from herbicides and pesticides.”
https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/
The size of particles is directly linked to their potential for causing health problems. Small particles less than 10 micrometers (PM10) in diameter pose the greatest problems, because they can get deep into your lungs, and some may even get into your bloodstream.
Exposure to such particles can affect both your lungs and your heart. Numerous scientific studies have linked particle pollution exposure to a variety of problems, including:
premature death in people with heart or lung disease
nonfatal heart attacks
irregular heartbeat
aggravated asthma
decreased lung function
increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing.
People with heart or lung diseases, children, and older adults are the most likely to be affected by particle pollution exposure.
https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/health-and-environmental-effects-particulate-matter-pm
Phrases like “can contain,” “can affect,” and “have linked” are misleading in the extreme within the context of this discussion. What a fundamentally irresponsible post. There are plenty of bad things out there the exposure to which is not driven to zero because the risk is just not that great while the cost/complexity and yes inconvenience is substantial. Anyone with a modicum of education and common sense know this to be the case and should argue the issue accordingly.
To wit: The very specific question is here the extent to which, in a quantifiable manner, exposure to all of these horrible, terrible, very bad, no good things from leaf blowers is a health risk. Yes, leaf blowers blow hard. That is why they exist. Yes, they blow things that are known to be bad. But, if a puff of bad things does not puff near an innocent passer by, is it really that bad? If it does puff near a person, how long is the exposure and what is the risk? Is it like X-ray exposure when flying? Or is it like gamma radiation exposure at Chernobyl?
You want to breathe this stuff, Elmo? Good! You want your kids to breathe it?
https://www.coloradoboulevard.net/clouds-sounds-pollution-in-our-communities/?fbclid=IwAR1vswUR85jWkQRxQjLMUsKYS3DLAUcxQ24QY6SBIIoFmPXPWA2QNrQ2Hew
I work in Newton and our office building has a full time person who blows the leaves most of the year all day long. We keep complaining and he moves to another area of the building. Dust, debris, noise starting at 8:30 AM. There are many houses in the area and everyone has to deal with this. I do not see much enforcement of noise ordinance.
I live in a neighboring town and things are not any better there. We have leaf blowers starting every weekday at 7AM on the dot and Saturdays 8AM exactly and they do not stop all day long. Often times we have 5+ crews each street. We have leaf blowing sound coming from all sides of the street and dust gushing in from the windows. We cannot open our windows at all from 7AM until it gets dark. Considering a started house is $1MM in these towns is it really worth to spend that much money plus tax for houses you cannot even get peace and quiet? The noise alone is unbearable, but what about the fumes and dust and pollen? I cannot get out to the yard until winter.
And if you dare to complain every single homeowner with a landscaping service (99% of the houses in my neighborhood) says exactly the same thing as if it is giving as a script: “my landscaper takes only 15-20 minutes”. No they do not, they are at each lot for at least an hour, multiple men, multiple machines every single week bringing noise, dust, discomfort and who knows what else to our neighborhoods.
@Elly, Thank you very much for your post. Newton law does restrict the use of leaf blowers. For example, in Newton, using a gas leaf blower is illegal from Memorial Day to Labor Day and using any leaf blower that’s louder than 65dB is illegal all year ’round. Many other communities in the U.S. also restrict, and some ban, leaf blowers, as do communities in other countries, and even some entire countries. For example, in Mass., both Cambridge and Brookline restrict the use of leaf blowers. Here’s a couple of links to Newton’s restrictions. Enforcement has been a problem here, but things are looking better now.
https://greennewton.org/message-from-mayor-fuller-newton-implements-new-leaf-blowers-registration-requirement/
https://www.newtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/69328
A few years ago, I had read that Israel banned them and that they were banned in Paris and some places in Germany and Italy, but now can’t find anything on the web to confirm this.
The fun starts at 2:10 😉
https://985thesportshub.com/episodes/toucher-rich-fred-doesnt-care-for-the-usa-world-cup-team-hour-2/
Matt I’ve listened to it 2x and still laughing! “Leaf Blower Guy, please hold; Leaf Blower Guy, please hold”
Green Newton’s list of quiet landscapers has been updated as of Feb. 2022:
https://greennewton.org/gn-recommended-lawn-care-provider-info/
These are landscapers who obey Newton’s leaf blower ordinance: 65db or less, and electric-only in summertime.
Since last fall, Newton now also requires commercial leaf blower operators to register for a city permit. If an unregistered operator violates the ordinance, the property owner can now be fined.
The list of currently permitted operators is on the city’s Leaf Blower Information page:
https://www.newtonma.gov/government/inspectional-services/leaf-blower-information