Reporter
To deal with the eventual transition from gas to electric leaf blower equipment, the San Mateo City Council is advocating for an incentive-laden approach for landscaping businesses and workers instead of a ban.
Lisa Diaz Nash
“I am not ready yet to recommend a ban on gas leaf blowers,” Deputy Mayor Lisa Diaz Nash said, arguing for more outreach and education. “I would want to do everything we can to incentivize electric [options].”
The city considered a time-of-day restriction, a gas leaf blower ban and a complete ban on all blowers at its April 3 meeting. The city explored restrictions on gas leaf blowers bans due to noise, air quality, health and environmental concerns. Rather than doing a full ban on gas leaf blowers, a council majority favored increasing incentives to switch to electric over concerns about the financial and economic impacts on small landscaping businesses.
The current rules limit leaf blowers to use between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays and between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with noise-minimizing requirements also included. According to staff, the city receives around 15 noise complaints about leaf blowers per year but rarely issues citations because most people comply. There are about 100 to 150 landscaping businesses in San Mateo. A survey that received 18 responses from landscapers found most opposed a gas leaf blower ban. Most said they would increase costs to cover the increased time and were worried about other costs.
Mayor Amourence Lee said she had an issue imposing regulation on small business owners when the city had not transitioned, arguing it was wrong to expect residents to do something the city had not done.
“The level of input from the small businesses that will be directly impacted leaves me very uncomfortable making decisions in an informed way,” Lee said.
Electric leaf blowers have issues with battery life, performance and replacement costs, with equipment harder to use at larger sites. Costs remain challenging as an electric backpack blower costs $300 plus four batteries that cost $300 each, totaling $1,500 for each replacement. A typical gas leaf blower costs $375 plus fuel. In 2020, the city purchased $8,000 in electrical equipment for employees to use. The city has introduced an electric leaf blower rebate program with eight rebates for commercial landscapers at an average of $375 and 32 rebates for residents at an average of $75. Enforcement issues also remain, as code enforcement officers must see a violation for a citation to be issued. The state is also playing a role after it banned new gas leaf blowers and lawn mowers through Assembly Bill 1346 in 2021, which prohibited the sale of new small off-road engines in 2024.
“Now that we have this law, this is going to have to happen at some point for all operators in the state, and it’s coming up soon,” Councilmember Adam Loraine said.
Loraine suggested an ordinance that would allow gas and electric options in certain zones at certain times, similar to an ordinance in Burlingame, and then phasing out gas options later so only electric options were left. He cited environmental and noise pollution issues and proposed increased city rebates.
“I think there is some potential value in the city pursuing a [gas] ban,” Loraine said, suggesting 2026 as a date.
Twenty cities have banned gas leaf blowers, including several in the Bay Area. Councilmember Rich Hedges argued an incentive program would help convince stragglers to switch to electric options, saying a policy like in Burlingame would be hard to enforce and confusing.
“I think there should be incentives,” Hedges said.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
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(2) comments
Curtis, thanks for including costs for electric leaf blowers… perhaps we can also ask proponents how much environmental pollution is caused by the use of gas leaf blowers? Is it as much pollution as a 10 acre wildfire? And how do the environmental costs of manufacturing batteries, and their disposal, fit into the big scheme of things? As usual, is San Mateo taking the approach of as long as carbon emissions are not in our backyard, it is acceptable? And here we go again with spend your money up-front, and maybe we’ll give you some money taken from lower income folks as a carrot. Perhaps a new catchphrase? Going green is going to cost you green – not going green will still cost you green.
It is odd and hypocritical that the city wants to restrict private gardeners but doesn t first replace the gas blowers its own employees are using to maintain city property.
Why doesn't the city mandate electric blowers for City of San Mateo gardeners and see how that goes before mandating it for all gardening businesses?
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