I have to say, as someone who is annoyed by leaf
blowers and will probably never own one, I think the
ban proposal is a silly idea.
As others have pointed out, not only does the city
have more important problems to deal with--but even
when looking at noise and air pollution problems, leaf
blowers seem to be pretty far down the list.
If a leaf blower is already violating a noise
ordinance AND it is bother neighbors enough, they can
call up the police, or better yet, talk to the
offendor themselves. No new law required.
It's true that the high level of childhood asthma in
urban areas is not given nearly enough attention, but
my bet is that automobiles and old, substandard
housing is much more to blame for the high incidence
of asthma, than a few hours with a leaf blower here
and there.
I am no big 'property rights' proponent, but a ban on
the occasional annoying leaf blower seems overboard to
say the least. Maybe we should ban all snowblowers,
weed-wackers, rototillers, tablesaws, chainsaws, and
motorized lawnmowers. Better yet, anything with
motorized parts except for our precious cars should be
banned from entering the city limits.
On the noise issue, community events, church picnics
and backyard BBQs generate a lot more (and frequent
noise) than leaf blowers. I doubt anyone would
suggest that we should take action against these noise
pollution sources.
-Derek Burrows Reise
Longfellow, where the sounds of fall include some
airplanes, loud car stereos and the occassional leaf
blower--and that darn ice cream truck that keeps on
circling my block over and over and over again...
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