San Mateo leaf blower ban stalls until next year

Vice Chair Jackie Nuñez said the commission needs the perspective and buy-in from landscapers to ensure any restrictions or ban works in San Mateo, which wouldn’t be possible before January. She also believes the issue wouldn’t be a high priority for the city during a pandemic.

“I would just at this time hesitate to recommend that this would be on council’s agenda, giving competing priorities and given just such large economic impacts from the pandemic both to the city and our small businesses,” Nuñez said.

Commissioner Adam Loraine concurred, saying a potential ban on leaf blowers wouldn’t be high on a priority list for the council in the short term due to COVID-19. He also wanted to get information from the California Air Resources Board on changing emission standards.

“It’s my current feeling that now might not necessarily be the right time to pursue a ban or a significant modification to our regulations related to leaf blowers,” Loraine said.

The commission also had concerns about the issues it could cause for commercial landscapers and costs to the city for enforcement. Landscapers could struggle financially throughout San Mateo and might pass on the additional costs to customers. Sweeping instead of leaf blowing is also more time-intensive and could lead to repetitive-use injuries.

Commissioner Rafael Reyes was worried about what a ban on leaf blowers would mean for landscapers and how they would adjust during a pandemic. In the future, he wants to see added controls around leaf blower use in residential areas similar to Burlingame. He also wants to look at business education and awareness to help solve the problem.

“I’m quite torn on this. The small business that we are talking about and the people that work in these small businesses are under extraordinary stress,” Reyes said.

Members of the public expressed support for more restrictions or bans on leaf blowers at the meeting. Residents raised concerns about the air quality in residential neighborhoods due to leaf blowers, pets and kids’ health, landscape workers’ health, and noise pollution. Others asked for a buyback program for leaf blowers to help landscapers.

Commissioner Cliff Robbins was the lone commissioner who wanted staff to bring something to the council for its goal-setting session in January. He believes it’s a significant problem affecting most residents in the city and should be addressed as soon as possible.

“I think we neglect it at our peril. I just wanted to put that in the record, and hopefully, we can pick this up again sometime in the future,” Robbins said.

Despite hesitation in making a decision now, the commission wants action in the future to address concerns from the public. The commissioners asked staff for outreach to landscapers and further planning on a buyback program for leaf blowers. Restrictions to leaf blowers would improve noise pollution, air quality and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Gas and electric leaf blowers can give off smog, which stays close to the ground and makes it difficult for people to breathe. Recent fires have caused wildfire smoke, and leaf blowers also worsen air quality. Four options for leaf blower restrictions were presented at the meeting. The four options were more noise or time restrictions, temporary leaf blower ban days, a gas leaf blower ban or a complete gas and electric leaf blower ban. The council considered more restrictive leaf blower ordinances in 2013 but ultimately decided against additional restrictions due to concerns about financial problems for landscapers. If the commission had recommended leaf blower regulations, staff would have brought the topic to the council at its goals session in January for further discussion and action.

Restrictions or bans on gas leaf blowers are common throughout California. Over 70 cities in California have some restrictions or partial bans, including Burlingame, Foster City and Menlo Park. Current leaf blower restrictions are in place in San Mateo. Leaf blowers in San Mateo can only be used on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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