San Carlos residents proposed to their City Council to consider banning gas-powered leaf blowers, but the matter was not agendized for a future meeting because of the potential enforcement costs and unnecessary burdens to landscaping businesses.
At Monday’s meeting, councilmembers were asked to make a “small but meaningful step” toward reaching the city’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 by residents Emily Burt and Lisa Gilliam. A survey conducted by the two gained more than 275 signatures in favor of a ban, but the City Council was not interested in considering it further.
Councilmember John Dugan proposed the matter to his colleagues, and voiced support for a ban, referencing the multiple cities in the county that have also moved forward with their own restrictions.
“It feels time for us to take a look at this as a city,” Dugan said. “The case is pretty compelling.”
Millbrae recently passed a ban that will go into effect July 1, and the ordinance includes a rebate program that would incentivize the transition to electric blowers.
Beyond the environmental impact, health concerns can also arise from gas-powered leaf blower use, Gilliam said. Their use exposes workers and bystanders to carcinogenic pollutants, including benzene and formaldehyde, Gilliam said.
Councilmembers Neil Layton and Adam Rak were interested in possibly studying the impact of leaf blower use and how rebate programs work, though not yet supportive of a full ban. Mayor Sara McDowell chose not to agendize the topic at all.
McDowell said individual homeowners can do their part in hiring landscapers who only use electric glassblowers or buy their own electric tools. The city has already transferred to only using electric powered tools, she added.
“We would never tell a homeowner that their gas stove is banned and they need to throw it away by a certain time and go out and buy electric,” McDowell said. “I don’t think we should be doing that to our small landscaping companies either.”
A statewide ban on the sale of gas leaf blowers has been effective since January, but there are no restrictions on already purchased blowers.
Ruben Cardenas, a landscaper and business owner, spoke at the meeting to share his experience shifting to full electric leaf blowers, and stated it “wasn’t difficult at all.”
“Sure it was a little expensive, but it wasn’t the end of the world,” Cardenas said.
Enforcing the ban was the main concern of Rak and McDowell, who both stated that the city likely does not have the funds to do so.
“If we’re going to do something, we’d want to be able to enforce it and I don’t know if we’re in a position to do that right now,” Rak said.
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