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
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.
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!
Thank you for all your efforts. Your presentation is appreciated. I signed the petition and most certainly encourage others to do the same. My son who lives in Upper Montclair enjoys the quiet you here propose because of the Town ordinances in place.
ReplyDeleteSafety is indeed related to the products used for lawn care. A movement to bring Orangetown to a non-toxic pesticide ground/public land care program has been ongoing. The goal is to model an ordinance after the one adopted by Rockland County in 2008. "(Beyond Pesticides, June 19, 2008) Rockland County, NY legislators passed a bill on June 17, 2008 to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides on all county-owned or leased land. Rose Marie Raccioppi, the community organizer behind the bill, is a member of Beyond Pesticides, the National Pesticide-Free Lawn Coalition, and Orangetown’s Environmental Committee. She brought her concerns about pesticide exposure to the Rockland County Legislature last year, and advocated strongly for the passage of the Rockland County Non-Toxic Landscape Maintenance Act." direct quote from: http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=374
Respectfully,
Rose Marie Raccioppi, MS FABI
http://www.theapogeeforum.blogspot.com
http://www.apogeelearning.blogspot.com
Thank you for doing this. My wife and children have asthma, and the blowers put so much crap in the air that it causes them great misery. And the noise. I work at home - I am a composer- and have to stop work for long stretches of time when the damn things are out there kicking everything up.
ReplyDeleteJohn Gromada
Nyack
Can we also include a law that will prevent my neighbor's dog from barking at all hours? Sometimes his children also play in the yard and are very loud for extended periods of time. Can we make a law to prevent that as well?
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm trying to point out is that we cannot create a law to ban or limit every practice some find offensive. I use a gas powered leaf blower. I would love to get the work done during the week, but I have to work. So, I need to do the work on the weekends. I try my very best not to go too early or too late with using it out of consideration of my neighbors. Sometimes work just needs to get done. You want my lawn looking nice, don't you?
If we have a problem with our neighbors why not try introducing ourselves first? Explain our concerns and see if an agreement can be reached without legislation. Who knows, you may even make a friend.
Sincerely,
Jason Costello
Pearl River
Check out http://www.nonoise.org/ for more info on how to deal with noise pollution. A very worthy fight.
ReplyDeleteKudos to Anne Putko who got this started! I used to live on the Boulevard in Suffern and with the landscaper type leaf blowers and the fact we have Newark planes flying over, the sounds were deafening and not a normal level of noise for daily life. Thank you, Ms. Putko!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anne for being the first person to speak up on an issue that I'm sure has aggravated many Rockland residents at one time or another.I agree with Jason's comments above about talking to our neighbors but I think that it is the professionals that are at the heart of the issue. I understand that the landscapers would naturally oppose any rules but as demonstrated in many communities compromise is possible. Late last summer as I was about to relax in my open windowed bedroom the noise from leaf blowers two yards away was incredible. I was unable to hear the TV in the room. It was still light at about 8PM and there were three workers wearing ear protection busily blowing away. I was so upset that I walked and asked them to quiet down you can imagine the look they gave me.(I was beginning to think that I was the only person bothered by such noise.) Excercising some common courtesy and engaging our elected representatives will go a long way towards a more civil Rockland county. Let me know if I can help. Scott Willis Pearl River
ReplyDeleteScott, I can't afford a professional landscaper. As most people I work during the day Monday to Friday. Evenings and weekends are the time I set aside for lawn care. Doesn't that make me part of the problem as well? I use a rake, I tend to prefer it, but it takes more time. Sometimes due to weather or life, time is short. What I meant about speaking to your neighbor is to ask them to have their landscaper come at different times, if possible. The weather may dictate that they cannot ALWAYS accommodate your request, but if they can cut the times they are blowing leaves at 8pm in half isn't that a victory? Isn't it a balance between maintaining the aesthetic of a neighborhood and 20-30 min of motor noise once or twice a week?
ReplyDeleteI happen to think that common courtesy and a more "civil" Rockland County comes from us. The citizens make the county civil, not elected officials and legislation.
The problem is that it isn't just 20-30 min. once or twice a week. I have 7 neighbors whose property abuts mine, and more beyond that who are close enough that blower noise is still annoying. That's a MINIMUM of 2+hours/week, and that doesn't take into account the lawn mowers and other noises we are subjected to. Maybe I can get my landscaper to come at a different time, but what about my neighbors' landscaper?
ReplyDeleteI am very sympathetic to the plight of the homeowner who works and does his own lawn care -I've been there. Sometimes an over the fence chat works well and sometimes it only leads to animosity.
Having some community parameters won't please everyone, but we need to do something that will work for people on both sides of the fence.