Make A Difference In Our Community: Sign the Quiet Lawns - Healthy Orangetown Petition

Spring is here and you have probably been looking forward to hearing the sweet sounds of the birds again and to smelling the lovely scents of blooming flowers.  Instead, what you are liable to hear is the ear-breaking roar of leaf blowers and the smell of the noxious fumes of the gas-powered units.  You'll also fill your lungs with the particles of dust, animal waste, pesticides, and fertilizer that they will blow into the air--into your yard, on to your car, on to your children  playing outside, and on to you as you get the backyard picnic table ready for your lunch guests!


It's time to take a hard look at leaf  blowers.  It's time to ask our village and town representatives to establish some parameters for their use.  Your health and quality of life depend on it!  Your property value does too! 

The Environmental Committee of the Town of Orangetown is currently considering proposing an ordinance that will establish some parameters for leaf blower use.  These parameters will include maximum noise levels, times and days of use, and emissions levels for gas-powered devices.

While Westchester County has over 15 municipalities with ordinances currently in effect governing the use of leaf blowers, the Orangetown ordinance, if adopted, will be the first of its kind in Rockland County.  The reasons for the enactment of regulations in Westchester, and in communities across the country, are based on the need to preserve quality of life and  a healthful environment.

Most people know of the noise issue.  Only a relatively small number are aware of the harmful emissions produced by the gas-powered units.  Fewer still are cognizant of the dangers resulting from the particulate matter that the machines make airborne--a  mixture of dust, animal waste, pesticides, and fertilizers!  While particles of these materials are harmful to all people, they are especially injurious to the young, the elderly, and to those with respiratory conditions.

Aggravating the situation, many landscapers use crews of three to four individuals, each of whom blasts a gas-powered leaf blower at full throttle on a single property.  Observations of the crews in action show that they tend to congregate in the same area to do their work.  This results in dangerous levels of noise being generated.  While the workers may be wearing protective hearing gear, the people  in the neighboring yards are not.  Those people may include a mother playing with her children, a couple serving brunch to their friends, or a grandpa taking a nap on the patio with his grandson on a beautiful day!  It may include YOU!

The time has come, I believe, for our local legislative bodies to deal with the harsh reality of the effects of  the unregulated use of leaf blowers in our communities.    The Orangetown Environmental Committee has developed an e-petition to gauge public support for the proposed ordinance.  Please click on the e-petition's link, which appears on the left side of this web page,  and "sign" it when the petition window opens.   With your support, the Committee will be able to move this important quality of life and health initiative forward!