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Calif. City Restricts Leaf Blowers10-13-06 | News

Calif. City Restricts Leaf Blowers




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The owners of landscape companies urged restrictions on the hours when leaf blowers can be used, rather than a ban on the devices.


Rather than a full-blown leaf-blower ban, the Capitola city council appeased landscapers by restricting hours when the noisy garden devices can be used.

Capitola is located near Santa Cruz, about 100 miles south of San Francisco. Neighboring Palo Alto recently put a complete ban on blowers into effect, frustrating landscapers who opposed the rule.

?EUR??,,????'??It would be a lot simpler to just ban them completely,?EUR??,,????'?? Councilman Kirby Nicol said during a spirited two-hour discussion in late September.

?EUR??,,????'??The problem is not with the tool, but with the operator and lack of consideration for how the tool is used,?EUR??,,????'?? said Jack Long, president of Central Coast Landscape and Maintenance Inc.

The council relented, deciding to restrict leaf blower use from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in residential areas. Their use had been allowed from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The council had proposed a complete ban on leaf blowers because of resident complaints. But landscapers raised fears rates would be hiked because using rakes is a more expensive and time-consuming.

Source: Associated Press

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