Legislation To Regulate Landscapers In Southampton Village Tabled For Two Weeks

A measure to regulate the landscaping industry in Southampton Village was tabled last week as Village Board members pushed back a vote on two proposed laws, with plans to make additional changes based on community input.

The first proposed law seeks to place a summer ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, while the other would require landscapers to register annually if they want to work in the village.

The latter gives village officials a way to monitor which landscapers are properly licensed and insured, something the village began requiring back in 2011. It also aims to ensure that landscapers understand the village nuisance law and other policies before being allowed to work in the village.

The law to regulate when gas-powered leaf blowers can be used was developed because of a rising number of complaints about the noise and pollution associated with the tools.

“We were woken up twice last week to leaf blowers,” village resident Mackie Finnerty told board members at a public hearing on the matter on Thursday, March 14. “They were leaf-blowing from 7 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon—three guys.”

Ms. Finnerty was not alone in her complaints.

Orson Cummings, another village resident, said he “just can’t take the noise,” and Dieter von Lehsten, who is a member of the Southampton Town Sustainability Committee, referred to the gas-powered equipment as a “horror.”

“It is a question of health,” he said. “It is a question of noise and pollution.”

The proposed legislation charges that noise coming from construction, property maintenance and landscaping, including the gas-powered leaf blowers, “unreasonably annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others,” and therefore it “shall be deemed to create a public nuisance.”

The use of gas-powered leaf blowers would be banned entirely from May 15 to September 30 under the original proposal, and at all other times the devices only could be used from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Use would be prohibited on Sundays and federal and state holidays.

The proposal, however, permits golf, beach and tennis clubs, as well as municipal employees, to use gas-powered leaf blowers as long as they are not used within 100 feet of a residence.

Don Mahoney, who owns a landscaping business in Southampton, criticized the proposal, telling board members last week that the playing field should be level for everyone, and places like the Meadow Club should not receive special treatment.

Others who opposed the legislation questioned the proposed start date of the ban period, and asked for the ban to start later in the year to account for elements such as late snowstorms that can slow down landscapers’ efforts to get estates ready for the summer season.

They also questioned the registration proposal, saying if they were able to obtain a home improvement license from the town, they have already proven to be a legitimate landscaper and have the insurance required to operate.

Under the proposed law, landscapers would be required to register with the village every year and pay a nonrefundable fee of $100 for an individual landscaper, or $250 for a business.

No action was taken on either law. Instead, Mayor Michael Irving said he would like to make modifications that would possibly include places like the Meadow Club in the restrictions, to level the playing field, and modify the ban period to May 20 through September 20.

Both public hearings were left open and will reconvene at the Village Board’s next meeting on March 26.