An ordinance that would ban gas leaf blowers in Burlingame will come back for final approval at the City Council’s next meeting, councilmembers said after hearing minor changes made to the legislation — including usage hours — on Feb. 5.
Michael Brownrigg
The ordinance has been modified to increase the hours electric leaf blowers can run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, an hourlong change from the original 5 p.m. cutoff. Language in the ordinance that called for violators “to be punished” has been changed to “subject to penalty” to soften the verbiage, Burlingame Sustainability Coordinator Sigalle Michael said.
When adopted at its final reading Feb. 20, the ordinance will go into effect July 1, allowing a grace period for gardeners and residents to adapt and for Burlingame to get the word out.
“This is an issue that bothers a lot of people. We know we had to balance between different considerations, but I think when we look back on this it was handled with alacrity, with efficiency,” Councilmember Michael Brownrigg said. “I’m proud of our city for being — not ahead of everybody, there are other cities that did this in some cases years ago — but one of the earlier ones in San Mateo County to say enough is enough with gas-powered leaf blowers.”
The ordinance comes after the state banned the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers, in effect since Jan. 1.
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The decision to extend the weekday time cutoff was made because electric blower usage can take longer than using a gas blower, Mayor Donna Colson said.
“The electric blowers generally take a little longer to use, as gas blowers are not as powerful, [and to] give a little leeway, understanding if you’re a gardener, you might have to take longer at more houses,” she said. “Since this now applies to homeowners as well, we wanted to give a little daylight so they could use the blowers into the evening.”
Aside from the one-hour weekday extension and switch from gas to electric, leaf-blowing time regulations will remain the same. Residents or gardeners in the Blue Zone may use commercial leaf blowers on Thursdays, in the Green Zone on Fridays, and in the Red Zone on Tuesdays. An extra day is given for R3 and R4 multi-family buildings on Fridays. Residents may also use their own electric leaf blowers on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
City staff are exempted from day-of-the-week restrictions when using electric blowers at city facilities and parks.
Ah yes, the virtue signaling continues with no proven benefit (there’s likely more environmental damage) from using electric blowers. At least there’s acknowledgement that electric blowers are inefficient compared to gas blowers, which means more batteries are needed and more are tossed in the garbage as hazardous waste (if not tossed in the general garbage stream). And of course, there was bound to be discrimination between “you” and “them” - city staff is exempted. I’ll wait for the ordinance to be modified, or band aid ordinances to be passed to address unintended consequences.
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Ah yes, the virtue signaling continues with no proven benefit (there’s likely more environmental damage) from using electric blowers. At least there’s acknowledgement that electric blowers are inefficient compared to gas blowers, which means more batteries are needed and more are tossed in the garbage as hazardous waste (if not tossed in the general garbage stream). And of course, there was bound to be discrimination between “you” and “them” - city staff is exempted. I’ll wait for the ordinance to be modified, or band aid ordinances to be passed to address unintended consequences.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.