Hi A . Michael , I think town meeting got it all wrong . See who are you or any town town meeting member to tell me a grown up " Real Townie " home owner and tax payer what I can and cannot do on my property? YOU DON'T .. My suggestion to you if you do not like the noise here in Arlington there are plenty of other places to live ..
Move away ...I hear Vermont is quiet

My mother taught me you can't have your way all the time . There are lots of things my neighbors do that disturb me but that's life . I have the option to move . Who do these elite people think they are ? What's next ? Lawn mowers , snow blowers , snow plows ? First off if this isn't repealed this week , I will be filing an appeal with the Attny General because the original vote at town meeting was flawed . Moderator Leone had people so confused I don't
think he even knew what he was voting on . I have the
video and it don't lie . He was so confused he even swore
in the middle of it . Second the way the home rule was
written was incorrect . The dpw will be allowed to use Leaf blowers and the tax payers can't .. I DON'T THINK SO ...I will personally file the lawsuit and the injunction against the town . It' won't be the first time I have sued the town and it won't be the last ... Happy leaf blowing ...

blowers but the tax payers can't . Good luck trying to

But it seems she didn't teachYOU that YOU can't have your way all the time. "Timmy, dear, stop being such a sore loser. It's embarrassing. Love, Mom."

I don't have a horse in this race. I've not been bothered by blowers, so the vote either way doesn't affect me one wy or the other. But since it has bothered others, their needs count more than those of us who aren't. That's caled being a good neighbor. Oh, and the law stipulates something that sounds like "the peaceful enjoyment" of one's property.

Re Tim: the distinction is that the effect of leaf blowers isn't limited to one's property.

An analogy would be loud music: eventually at some volume, the right to play loud music on your property butts up against a neighbor's right to not have loud music on their property.

The positions taken for and against leaf blowers are essentially two sides of the same coin: the way local government should balance the old struggle between "freedom to" and "freedom from". The compromise struck at the Town Meeting was messy but, I think, reasonable.

I agree with Tim in that government cannot protect everyone from everything at all times. There are myriad daily noises from starting one's car early in the morning to go to work, to dump trucks backing up "beeping" etc. A leaf blower is used to clean up and maintain property, a POSITIVE. I've never had a situation on my street when some guy used his leaf blower for HOURS just to disturb me or a neighbor who wants the silence of a convent all the time. If the Town bans leaf blowers for residents, it should NOT allow town employees to use leaf blowers: SIMPLE COMMON SENSE. i don't get some of the people on here who made childish, peevish comments. Laws and codes are for all residents of the town.... just because some guy lives in a fourth floor apartment on Mass ave in East Arlington and doesn't need a leaf blower (but probably needs a life), doesn't make his input any more or less equal to a guy in Morningside with two acres. It is time for our Town politicians to get OUT of our lives. Tim: GO FOR IT. Others in Arlington will support you.

Check out what the press is saying! Arlington is a laughingstock right now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FplRnEGO2lc&feature=plcp

I'm with you michael. you said it all. I'll be voting YES

Hey RICH, thanks that was AWESOME! I hadn't caught that before. RIGHT ON! Everyone in town GO OUT AND VOTE this cocamamie idea DOWN! The editors at the Advocate look like complete dorks today..... like the guy on the Fox News said... they are AFRAID that DEMOCRACY might work.

I grew up in Arlington and still have family there. This vote, if anything, should be about this revealing quote... "Our major objection to overturning the regulation, however, is that it could establish a 'harmful precedent' that decisions by town meetings could be seen as subject for reversal via petition initiated ballot initiatives." Aside from being a perfect example of elitist liberal "reasoning" (which by the way, could and should be used nationwide to educate Americans as to the threat we are up against), the Arlington selectman who wrote this needs to be slapped upside the head with a rolled up copy of the United States Constitution.
Regards and Good Luck Arlington

Just one basic question to all the anti- gas blowers that nobody seems to be acknowledging. What do you plan to do about all the hundreds of people like me who fully intend to use our ELECTRIC blowers anytime we want? Call the police and report me, Charles? Why? I'm not breaking the law. So all this is basically moot and except for the questionable air quality improvement, it just adds fodder to today's Ch 5 news where Arlington, once more, is being depicted as the laughing stock of New England because of this new law.

I agree 100% with this letter. It's a nice compromise. It's too bad some people can't help but view the partial-year leaf blower ban as some kind of ASSAULT ON THE VERY FABRIC OF OUR LIBERTY AND FREEDOM!!!!!

They've had this type of ban in place in Cambridge for years and it has worked out fine.

Leaf Blowers are for BLOWING LEAVES. And there aren't any of those to blow during the time the ban is in effect. When the Fall rolls around... bust 'em out and use them for what they are intended for.

to Jimmie Brooks: Arlington IS NOT Cambridge. If you want to live in a Liberal Stepford Community.... go live in Cambridge. Chelsea has a lot of drugs...maybe with your input Arlington can reach for that environment, too. It IS about too much government involvement at EVERY level.

but it used to be Cambridge...

I vacation there and love it. Great radio and T.V. reception for FOX News al over the State, too. LOL

james and I will both help u pack. and I'll toss in a box of kleenex.

Your only screwing yourself.....people will use GAS mowers revved on hi to blow leaves.......havent thought it through....have you? Liberals never do.....and yet they think they are so smart .....its funny

You are correct - this was not thought through...by all parties. We didnt used to have this problem because there were no leaf blowers 30 years ago. Now 6 show up to blow away grass clippings. It's overdone. How about a noise and power limit on blowers? Or a limit to the number of blowers in operation at the same time?

This is not over.

All construction in Arlington including leaf blowers is allowed to start at 7 in the morning. I have 3 neighbors who all use different landscapers. each one of them has 3 or 4 leafblowers and most times they start at 7 a.m.
nice way to wake up 3 days per week . if the ordinace had said even 8 or 9 a.m. I would have been ok with that. BUT it was probably impossible just to include leaf blowers as the only tool not to be used before 8 or 9. I don't know. So I am happy with the outcome. Besides, this regulation does not ban gas blowers per say but only for 4 months a year when there are practically no leaves on the ground anyway. And, oh yes, this is over.

You are making my point. All these little details matter. Time to start, hours of operation, DB level, etc. What is it we really want from this? Most people would settle for "reasonable usage". And from all the comments it sounds to me like people are actually starting to think about what constitutes "reasonable" usage.

So you see, this is not over. Especially since it only takes 300 signatures to call a special Town Meeting. And I'm willing to bet it will not pass this time , at least in its current form. And that may be a good thing.

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