Expected to Pass : Leaf-Blower Ban Faces Challenge

SAN MARINO — Although it is expected to be approved next month, a proposed city ordinance banning leaf blowers faces at least one more challenge.

Edwards Huntington Metcalf, a frequent critic of council actions, said he has written to the mayor asking that the council put the issue before the voters as a ballot measure.

But Mayor Rosemary Simmons said it is too late to put any measure on the Nov. 3 ballot. She added that the council is unlikely to put this issue on the ballot at any time.

If residents want the issue on a later ballot, such as next April, they will have to gather the necessary signatures, Simmons said.

Metcalf is the grandson of the founder of the Huntington Library, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens, one of two large private institutions that would be exempt from the ordinance. The Southwestern Academy, a private boarding school, would also be exempt, as would San Marino city and school district properties.

Metcalf said he objects to the ban because “blowers are no more objectionable than power mowers, tree trimmers and chain saws.

“I realize this is very controversial and I don’t think the council should decide,” he said. “This should be up to the people in an election.”

The ordinance, patterned after one passed in Beverly Hills in 1978, would prohibit the use of all motor- or gas-powered garden blowers because they exceed legal noise levels and create fumes and dust that pollute the air. It is scheduled to come before the council for a second and final vote Sept. 9. If it passes, it will become law Nov. 1.

Simmons said many San Marino residents asked for the ban, complaining more about dirt and allergic reactions to dust than about the blowers’ noise.

When the proposed ordinance was unanimously passed on its first reading Aug. 12, the only opponent was a resident, Holmes Hobart. “My concern was that this was overkill,” he said in an interview. “The ordinance would move us back to the horse-and-buggy age. Blowers are much more efficient and faster than a rake or a hose, and they’re not as noisy as a chain saw.”

Taken by Surprise

Metcalf said that he attended the Aug. 11 meeting to speak on another matter and that the proposed ordinance took him by surprise. The next day he wrote to the council asking for a ballot measure.

Two years ago San Marino enacted an ordinance requiring blowers to meet the city’s noise limit of 65 decibels. City officials said most blowers greatly exceed that level.

Simmons said present noise limitations cannot be enforced because gardeners either finish using the blowers by the time the noise is reported and police arrive, or turn off their machines when they see police approaching.

“We prefer that police handle robberies and burglaries,” Simmons said.

Since Beverly Hills banned the use of leaf blowers, West Hollywood and Lomita have enacted similar bans. Santa Monica has limited their use to a few daytime hours. The Los Angeles City Council rejected a proposed ban last year.

The strongest opposition to such restrictions has come from professional gardeners, who say the machines save time and money.

Pasadena Hearing

On Monday, Pasadena will hold a public hearing on the use of leaf blowers in that city. A proposed ordinance would prohibit them in residential areas, on the grounds of convalescent homes and hospitals and on sidewalks next to those areas. The blowers would be allowed to operate in commercial, industrial and public areas.

Pasadena City Clerk Pamela Swift said the issue drew a large crowd of opponents when it was first presented at a meeting of the Board of Directors in June, and only two people spoke in favor of banning the blowers. Another large crowd is expected on Monday, she said.

A city staff report on leaf blowers is due to be presented to the Claremont City Council in September. City spokesmen said they do not know whether the report will recommend any restrictions.