SR-702-003 (2)
~S:JG:MS:HD:VR:b.
Counc~l Meetlng: 14/86
..
~
s.a
Mon1.ca,
Cal1.fornla
?02-003
, I-A
JAN 1 4 1986
TO: Mayor and C~ty Councll
FROM: C1.ty Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendat~ons to Mit~gate Noise Problems Resulting
from Motor~zed Leafblowers by Lim1.t1.ng Hours of Usage,
Propos1.ng a Plan for a General NOlse Ordinance, and
Advlsing Gardeners of Ordinances.
Introduction
This report provldes Council Wl th lnformation regardl.ng various
optlons for mitl.gation of noise problems related to motor1.zed
leafblower use and the approach taken by other clties regulatl.ng
the use of such equipment. Recommendations are made to lim1.t the
hours of leafblower usage and to authorlze further analysls for
development of an overall communl.ty nOlse ord1.nance.
Background
On December 10,
1985 Council
requested staff to provlde
l.nformation on the advantages and disadvantages of motorized
leafblower use, the experience of other area c1.ties In regulating
leaf blower use and to determine the extent of motorlzed
leafblower use by C~ty groundskeepers.
Staff was also asked to
l.dentLfy alternatl.ves to prohibltion WhLCh would address concerns
ral.sed by members of the public. Council expressed concern about
the nOlse produced by the motors, the dust generated by their
use, the accumulatlon of debris which can result, and the
wasteful use of water WhlCh could result ~f the bannlng of
leafblowers
forced
gardeners
to
seek
deb:n.s-clearing
alternatives.
11-,4
JAN 1 4 1986
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.
Staff subsequently dlscussed the matter with: a representatJ..ve of
the Southern California Gardeners' Federation; City staff
responsible for the development and/or enforcement of leafblower
usage ord~nances or gUldel~nes ~n the citles of Carmel, Lomita,
Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, and the City of
Orange; the local distributors of the motorized leafblowers
owned by the Clty of Santa Monica; and representatives of varlOUS
City of Santa Mon~ca departments currently or potentJ..ally
lnvolved in thlS issue.
Santa Monica does not
d~rectly to the use of
Municlpal Code prohiblts
ordinary sensltiveness,"
noise
which
an ordlnance relatlng
Section 4204d of the
disturbs "persons of
refer to the use of
currently have
leafblowers.
but
does
not
speclfic types of machlnery. Section 4204dl prohlb~ts
demolltion, excavatlon or grading between the hours of 8:00 p.m.
and 7:00 a.m. daily and bans all such actlvity on Sunday.
Sectlons 7800c and 7800e prohiblt the sWeeplng of litter lnto
street gutters and onto occupled private property.
Clty of Santa Monica personnel began uSlng leafblowers 1n 1980
and twelve machlnes are now in operatlon. They are used
primarlly to blow grass and leaves off paved areas of city parks.
Blowers are used between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
from Monday-Friday. It 1$ estimated that the motorized blowers
can accomplish the work three to four times faster than brooms or
rakes.
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.
.
Motorized leafblowers have been criticlzed because of the n01se
generated by their motors, the health and sanitatlon lmpacts of
the dust, smoke and gasollne fumes resulting from thelr use, and
the accumulation of debr~s. Leafblower manufacturers'
dlstributors and the Southern Cal~fornia Gardeners I Federatl.on
l.nsist that such mach1nery can be operated ln a relat~vely quiet,
responsible and non-polluting manner and that leafblower use 1S
time-, cost-, and water-savlng. Actual leafblower operatlon,
however, depends on the ability and will J..ngnes$ of the user to
malntaln the machlnery properly, to operate the leafblower on
lower speeds in order to mlnlmize noise, to use machlnery ln a
safe and responsl.ble fashion, and to collect and dispose of
debrls generated.
Options available to the Cl.ty for the regulatlon of leafblowers
J..nclude: 1) bann~ng usage ~ 2) 11mi tJ..ng hours of usage i 3)
developJ..ng an overall communl.ty nOlse ordlnance; and 4)
establishing gUJ..dell.nes for voluntary compliance.
Option #1: BannJ..ng of the Leafblower
A ban of motorized leafblowers could lead many gardeners to turn
to water as an alternative method of clearing debrlS. Accordlng
to the Santa Monlca Water DivJ..slon, the average garden hose
releases 3.5 to 5 gallons of water per minute. Accordlng to the
Gardeners' Federation, the average gardener uses a leafblower for
approxlmately 10 mlnutes per garden site. It is estimated that
the same Job us~ng water would requ~re at least 10 mJ..nutes and
probably longer, which amounts to a min~mum of 35 gallons of
water consumed per garden site per Job. Assuming that
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.
approx~mately 35% of the City's single famlly resldentlal units
and 80% of the multlple famlly residential unlts utllize
bi-weekly gardening serVlces, then approximately 211,000 gallons
would be used per b~-weekly perlod or 5.5 mll110n gallons per
year. That represents a .10% increase in total annual City water
usage, and is enough water to supply 17 famll~es wlth water for
one year. In addition, water-transported debris would increase
the load on the storm sewer system and resul t ~n addl tlonal
nuisance flow onto local beaches.
A ban of motorized leafblowers may also lead
increase charges for gardenlng services due to
labor and time of gardening without the machinery.
gardeners to
the lnc reas ed
The potential
lncrease 1n the prlce of gardenlng services could then result in
the decreased use of such services by property owners.
Enforcement would be requlred to ensure compllance wlth any ban.
Al though Beverly Hills and Carmel have prohibl ted the use of
gasoline engine leafblowers, It lS lnformally reported that the
machines contlnue to be used due to lneffectlve enforcement
procedures. Violations tend to be lnvestigated only as a result
of compla~nts and fines are rarely charged. As a result,
gardeners reportedly are willlng to use the leafblower and risk
being reported.
Beverly Hills has had an ord2nance prohib~ting the use of
gasollne-powered leafblowers sJ.nce 1978. It is enforced by the
police department which responds to citizen complaints and issues
tlckets to violators. The court sets the fines for municlpal
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code vlolations which are usually $80. Thl.s year the Cl. ty ~s
planning to send a mailer to all gardeners operating ~n Beverly
Hills ~nform~ng them of the Clty'S prohib~tion. Malntenance
staff of Beverly Hl1ls contlnue toiUegally use blowers for park
malntenance because they are more cost effect1ve than hosing,
raklng or sweeping.
Carmel
has
had
an
ordinance
prohibiting
the
use
of
gasoline-powered motors since 1980. Enforcement AS carrled out
by the Police or the Code Enforcement Off1cer in response to
complalnts.
Vlo1ators are generally lssued a warnlng.
Few
complalnts have been recelved from the public, but it lS not
clear whether thlS lS the result of reduced usage of leafblowers
due to the ordinance or to ll.ml.ted public concern about the use
of leafblowers.
Option *2: Liml.ted Hours of Operation
L1-ml-ting hours of leafblower use is an alternative to banning
which would prohibit use of the machinery during late evening and
early mornl.ng hours. This option assumes that noise 1S the most
unpleasant result of leafblower use and lt elimlnates blower
nOl-se during regular sleeplng hours.
The citles of Newport Beach and Orange currently prohibit the use
of leafblowers from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and enforce the ordlnance
ln response to complalnts. Cl.tl.ng the ordlnance, both cltl-eS
have successfully curta11ed early morning leafblower use by
gardeners. Prohlbltlng leafblower operatlon between 10 p.m. and
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9 a.m. on weekends is a voluntary gUldellne urged by the City of
Laguna Beach.
Option #3: Development of an Overall Community NOlse Ordinance
Another option which City staff examlned was the development of
an overall community noise ordlnance for the Clty. Such an
ordlnance would apply not only to leafblowers but also to such
nOlse sources as dance halls, restaurants wlth live mUS1C, pumps,
fans, etc. A model communlty noise ordinance has been developed
and dlstributed widely throughout the country by the
Environmental Protectlon Agency (EPA) and the National Instltute
of Occupatlonal Safety and Health (NIOSH). Varlations of the
model ordlnance have been implemented in Long Beach, Los Angeles
County, Irvine, Orange County (which also provldes enforcement
for seven additlonal clties In the county) and widely throughout
the Bay Area.
The model ordinance essentially deflnes perrnlssible levels of
nOlse above the surroundlng ambient nOlse level In a given
nelghborhood. The followlng chart deplcts the suggested exter~or
noise standards contained 1n the ordinance.
SUGGESTED EXTERIOR NOISE STANDARDS
Allowable
Noise
Zone
Type Of Land Use
Tlme
Interval
Exterlor
NOlse Level
I
Slngle-,double-or
multlple-famlly
lOpm-7am
7am-lOprn
50 dBA
55 dBA
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residential (R-l,
R-2, R-3, or R-4)
II
Single-,double-or
multlple famlly
res~dent~al (R-l,
R-2, R-3, or R-4)
lOpm-7am
7am-IOpm
55 dBA
60 dBA
III
Commercial (C-l,
C-2, etc.)
lOprn-7am
60 dBA
65 dBA
IV
Industr~al or
manufacturing
(M-l, M-2, etc., or
I-I, 1-2, etc.)
Anytime
70 dBA
Misdemeanor penalties can be assessed for persons exceedlng the
exterior noise standards over 15 minutes lO a glven 1/2 hour or
for shorter periods of time l.f the nOlse levels slgn1.ficantly
exceed standards set. The louder the n01.se, the shorter the
allowable tlme period and the greater the penalty for violatlons.
The ordlnance thus requires actual measurement of noise levels by
enforcement personnel such as BU1.ldlng and Safety Offlcers. Lay
people can be tralned to operate the equipment In a 2 to 3 hour
per1.od. Such equipment costs $3,000 - $4,000 per unlt, although
SUl table equlpment is available for City use at the Airport.
Staffing requirements for such a program appear modest. For
example, one enforcement officer handles noise control for all of
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.
the unlncorporated areas of Orange county as well as seven
add~t~onal citles on a contractual basis.
Such a community noise ordinance would provide a rat~onal,
balanced approach to the problem of noise pollutJ..on from a
var~ety of sources. The ordlnances have reportedly proven to be
enforceable w1thout requiring large amounts of staff time. It
further appears that the model nOlse ordinance could be fairly
easlly adapted to Santa Mon~ca's needs.
Optlon #4: GUldellnes for Voluntary Compliance
A fourth option 1S to refra1n from adopting a noise ordlnance or
placing any formal restrlctions on leafblower use. Some citles
have selected this option 1n order to avoid enforcement
costsjresponslbll1tles assoclated with nOlse, dust or debris
ordlnances. The alternative 15 to develop a voluntary set of
leafblower use gu~delines and to educate professional gardeners
and private residents about safe, clean and responslble use of
leafblowers.
The Southern Californla Gardeners' Federatlon has issued a set of
recommended guidel~nes WhlCh they have dlstributed to their
membershlp and to local communlties lnterested ln minlmizlng the
noise and dust resulting from leafblower usage. The C.l. ty of
Laguna Beach developed a slmilar set of voluntary guidelines in
cooperation with the Gardeners' Federatlon. These guidelines are
passed out with the business lJ..cense tax lnformatlon to gardeners
operating ln the area. The gUldelines provide informatlon on
recommended hours for leafblower operation as well as tips on
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.
.
no~se,
dust,
smoke and gasol~ne fume reduction techn~ques.
Debr~s collection regulations are also outllned.
Budget/Financial Impact
The workload demands associated wlth enforcement of the ord~nance
W1.l1 be evaluated as part of the 1986-87 budget review process
with
partlcular
emphasis
upon
whether
or
not
existlng
departmental staff can absorb this enforcement responsibility.
If additional personnel or equlpment resources appear to be
needed, Counc1.1 will be asked to authorize expendltures l.n the
context of the proposed budget.
Reconunendations
It is recommended that Counc1.l:
1. Dlrect staff to develop a proposal and l.mplementat1.on plan
for a noise ordlnance
for reVlew by Clty Council in
conJunction with the 1986-87 budget process;
2. Direct the Clty Attorney to draft an ordinance prohib1.ting
usage of the machines from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. durlng weekdays.
and from 8 p.m. to 9 a.m. on weekends;
3. Dlrect staff to develop an lnformational flier on the City's
ordlnances and distrlbute thlS fIler through the Business
Llcense Divlsion to gardeners operat1.ng with1.n the C1.ty.
Prepared by: Julia Gr~ffln, Senior Management Analyst
Meganne Steele, Budget Director
Hank Dlttmar, Alrport Director
V1Vlan Rothsteln, Asst. to the D1.rector of
Recreatlon and Parks
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