Landscapers and the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) aren?EUR??,,????'???t happy with the decision. The trade group lobbied the city extensively and has loudly complained that the ban excludes newer blower models that are much cleaner and quieter.

Palo Alto is often looked at as a model for legislation — particularly on environmental issues, said Bill Guerry, an attorney who fought the ban.

“The difference is that Palo Alto made requests of the gardeners … to buy the cleanest and quietest blowers, and participate in training programs, then challenged the manufacturers to build cleaner and quieter products, at a cost of literally tens of millions of dollars, then they changed their mind,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The OPEI was stung by the outcome, and is warning landscapers in other municipalities to avoid antagonizing local government officials.

?EUR??,,????'??In most cases, city and government officials, when presented with accurate information, ?EUR??,,????'???(will) work with us on legislation.,?EUR??,,????'?? OPEI president Bill Harley wrote. ?EUR??,,????'??Therefore, OPEI calls on all landscape professionals to work with community residents and officials to prevent adversarial conditions.?EUR??,,????'??

More than 1,600 landscape workers were burned, the OPEI says, when they were certified by the city to use quieter gas-powered blowers, and bought new $500 machines believing officials would reverse the ban.

The Bay Area Gardeners Association, representing close to 1,600 gardeners who serve Palo Alto, doesn’t think so. It estimates that its members have lost roughly $1 million in profits since the ban took effect.

The association and the gardeners also have the support of two companies, Stihl Inc. and Shindaiwa Inc., which manufacture outdoor power equipment. In letters sent this summer to the Palo Alto City Council, both companies say they specifically poured money into engineering quieter machines for the city of Palo Alto.