East Hampton Village Seeks To Muffle Landscaping Noise

Waking up on a Sunday morning to a half dozen landscapers using loud, gas-powered leaf blowers is probably not the ideal situation for most.

The East Hampton Village Board has been discussing limiting hours for landscapers during the daytime, and prohibiting gas-powered leaf blowers, in addition to requiring professional landscapers to register annually with the village for a fee.

At a Friday Village Board meeting, the board agreed that the operation of gas-powered leaf blowers and other loud landscaping machines has created a quality-of-life issue in the village.

A draft law, which Rebecca Molinaro Hansen, the village administrator, described at the meeting, would prohibit landscapers from working before 8 a.m. or later than 6 p.m. on any weekday, and before 8 a.m. or later than 3 p.m. on Saturdays—with landscaping work prohibited completely on Sundays and federal and state holidays.

The law would also prohibit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers from June 1 until Labor Day except by golf club and municipal employees performing their regular duties—provided that no leaf-blowers are used within 100 feet of the nearest residence.

Gas-powered leaf blowers could be used after Labor Day until May 31 but no earlier than 8 a.m. and no later than 6 p.m. on any weekday, and no earlier than 8 a.m. or later than 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Using leaf blowers would be prohibited on Sundays.

Walk-behind gas-powered leaf blowers would be prohibited unless the property being cleared is larger than a half acre, and no more than two handheld or backpack gas-powered leaf blowers could be used at a time.

“Property maintenance and landscaping work” refers to employees or independent contractors who are paid for their landscaping. The law states that gas-powered leaf blowers would be allowed for emergency cleanups following major storms.

Violators could face fines up to $1,000.

Landscapers would also be required to submit an annual registration form provided by the village and pay a fee of $200, in addition to a fee of $10 per sticker for each registered landscaping vehicle.

Ms. Hansen explained that the East Hampton Village draft legislation is similar to a proposed law in Southampton Village, which hasn’t been approved and has been tabled for two weeks.

Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. explained that two East Hampton Village Board members, Richard Lawler and Barbara Borsack, have been reaching out to landscapers and the community for their thoughts on the matter.

Over the past few months, Mr. Lawler said, board members have met with local landscapers, residents and Nassau and Suffolk County landscaping association members.

“I’m proud of the work we have done as a board,” he said. “We’re trying to make this resolution something that is acceptable to everyone.”

Ms. Borsack said that she attended a public hearing in Southampton Village on Thursday, March 14, to hear additional concerns from landscapers. She said she heard landscapers’ concerns “loud and clear.”

“We felt it was a good idea to try and mimic the Southampton Village law,” she said.

Ms. Borsack explained that the board plans to make it easier for landscapers by adopting similar hours to those in Southampton Village.

“We’re really talking about the noise,” she said.

The East Hampton Garden Club and Ladies Village Improvement Society often landscape their own property, Ms. Borsack explained, adding that the law should be more specific to allow them to continue to do so.

“Maybe there’s a way to say landscaping work that involves noise … or landscaping work that involves machinery. Noise is the issue.”

However, Linda Riley the village attorney, explained that the law applies only to employees and those paid for their work, not volunteers or groups such as the LVIS or the garden club.

“It’s only applicable to employees, not garden clubs,” she explained. “We don’t mean homeowners weeding their garden.”

“A man’s home is his castle,” Mr. Rickenbach said, adding that any homeowner should be allowed to work on their own personal, private plot of land and that the law is concerned with commercial and professional landscaping.

Mr. Lawler added that he thought time limits should be set on the Sundays instead of completely prohibiting landscaping work—for example, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Chief [Michael] Tracey said at a previous meeting that there haven’t been too many complaints,” Rose Brown, a board member, said. “I don’t want to make it too restrictive, but we need some parameters for homeowners.”

She explained that during the summer months, a homeowner may landscape when it is still light out at 8 p.m.

Bill Fox, owner of Bill Fox Grounds Maintenance, explained that equipment manufacturers will eventually start getting the idea that landscapers will have to shift to battery-powered machines, which are much quieter than gas-powered blowers.

“We’re going in the right direction,” he told the board.

Mr. Fox said he and his employees will be attending an electric equipment demonstration and learning seminar in Southampton.

Mr. Fox, who’s also attended Southampton Village public hearings and discussions, said that he thought the East Hampton draft was “more sensitive to the landscaper community” than the Southampton Village draft.

“Maybe it’s best for us to take a wait-and-see attitude. Let’s learn from what happens post-Labor Day. If it needs addressing from the board, we can certainly do it at that time,” he said.

“Let’s move ahead with baby steps in a forward direction and codify what will be subject to a public hearing,” the mayor said.

The law is still under discussion, and will formally be scheduled for a public hearing at a May Village Board meeting.