Town Meeting Replaces Seasonal Leaf-Blower Ban with 'Compromise'

Town Meeting did away with the town’s controversial seasonal leaf-blower ban Wednesday night, replacing it with a list of restrictions that’s been dubbed the “leaf-blower compromise.”

Some Town Meeting members took issue with the term “compromise,” as they said the new bylaw, which passed 113-95, “eviscerates” the intent of the seasonal ban.

The seasonal ban, which Town Meeting passed 95-85 last May, would have prohibited the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on private property from May 15 to Oct. 15. The ban was never in effect (it would have been starting next month).

The new bylaw, which was developed by a Town Meeting committee, allows commercial and town employees to use leaf blowers from Sept. 15 to June 15. Then, from June 15 to Sept. 15 (the restricted months), they can use leaf blowers from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8-4 p.m. Saturday. Under the new bylaw, residential use is regulated by the town’s noise bylaw.

There are other restrictions as well: no more than one leaf blower is allowed to be used on any lot of 6,000 square feet or smaller, for instance, and leaf blowers are only allowed for 30 minutes at a time (with 15-minute breaks required).

Bill Downing, a Precinct 15 Town Meeting member and local landscaper who served on the leaf-blower committee, asked Town Meeting to pass the compromise and not to make “a tough job, tougher.”

“Government should work for small businesses,” he said, “not against them.”

Downing added that the town’s landscape companies have been generous in supporting the town, whether it’s been school fundraisers or maintaining a town island in the road.

Precinct 9 Town Meeting member Michael Ruderman, also a member of the committee, said he thought that the committee was stacked with people with a vested interest in overturning the seasonal ban. He urged Town Meeting to give the ban a shot.

“Let’s give the seasonal ban a year and see if it works,” he said.

Carol Band, a Precinct 8 Town Meeting member and committee member who pushed for a year-round ban last year, asked Town Meeting to “stand by” its decision from last May.

Wednesday was the third attempt to repeal the seasonal ban. After it passed last May, it was upheld at a Special Election in July and a Special Town Meeting in October, when the leaf-blower committee was also formed.

Town Meeting member Wes Beal, of Precinct 4, proposed a substitute motion, which would have put the seasonal ban on hold for a year and formed another committee to come up with a new compromise. Beal’s motion was defeated.