Town Board Adopts Gas Leaf Blower Ban In Southampton

The Southampton Town Board approved a summertime ban on gas-powered leaf blowers in a split vote on Tuesday, March 22.

Supervisor Jay Schneiderman and Councilmen John Bouvier and Tommy John Schiavoni voted in favor of the ban, while Councilman Rick Martel voted “no,” and Councilwoman Cynthia McNamara abstained.

Although the public hearing record had closed, before the vote was taken, a handful of supporters and opponents weighed in one more time on the measure that has been before the board and the subject of two public hearings for months.

But it might not be the last time. Offering his vote, Schneiderman said that he heard the complaints from the landscapers and promised that if they could come back and demonstrate to him that electric-powered replacements don’t work, “We’ll revisit the issue.”

Like many opponents who spoke in opposition during two public hearings on the measure, Martel spoke of nascent electric leaf blower technology. “It’s not there yet,” was a refrain throughout the hearing process, and one Martel also voiced. As a small-business owner, he said, his vote was more “not right now” than a flat “no.”

“If not now, when?” Bouvier queried rhetorically, adding, “This is the time to do it.”

The sponsor of the bill, the councilman reiterated his comments in support of the summertime ban, noting that it runs during a time when leaves are not falling, and mirrors contemplated state legislation. The town’s Parks Department uses electric blowers successfully, he said, pointing out that the law, a compromise, is less stringent than similar measures in other communities.

The new amendment to the town code chapter on noise prohibits the use of gas-powered leaf blowers from May 20 until September 20. It will also set permitted hours for the offseason use, with a ban on Sundays and holidays. It won’t take effect until September, meaning landscapers have until the spring of 2024 to switch to electric-powered equipment.

While the environmental effect of the two-cycle gas engines is of concern, Schneiderman allowed that it’s the noise, and the quality of life impact, that drove the movement toward a summertime ban. Throughout his career in elected office, the noise of leaf blowers is a complaint he’s heard most often, the supervisor said.

Bouvier agreed. Speaking of an “overwhelming number of letters and complaints” he receives about the blowers, the councilman said town officials received letters about the proposed ban, and 70 percent supported it. A poll drew responses 60 percent supportive of the measure.

McNamara looked askance at the poll. Questioning its veracity, she called it the most leading poll she’d ever seen. “I actually told the supervisor, ‘It’s like having a survey that asks if you like red balloons, and then states that red balloons will kill you,’” she said. The councilwoman said she wants to put a policy in place to regulate how surveys are handled.

Many of those who offered comments in support live in Southampton Village, where a summertime ban already exists. “I didn’t hear a single one of them state that it’s working. Quite the opposite. In fact, Southampton Village is now proposing a seasonal ban on electric-powered leaf blowers,” the councilwoman said. Landscapers will be asked to use only brooms and rakes during the summer.

“I’m telling you this because I just want you to be aware that’s the path we are headed down,” McNamara warned.

Speaking to another aspect of her opposition, McNamara asserted the regulation can’t be enforced. Using the village as an example, she said that In the three years since the seasonal ban was put in place in the village, officers were dispatched 204 times. “They issued just 17 tickets. That’s an 8 percent enforcement rate in an area of just 7½ square miles.”

A landscape company owner herself, McNamara called for better enforcement of licensing laws. Speakers during the hearings suggested that workers using the blowers on weekends or after hours were most likely operating illegally, without insurance or correct licensing. Schneiderman said he would task the councilwoman with leading an effort to crack down on landscape contractors operating illegally.

Speaking as a small-business woman, McNamara said she wagered she was the only person on the board who had used both gas-powered and electric blowers and knew the difference. Schneiderman said he had and acknowledged the gas-powered version is more powerful.

Martel has also used leaf blowers, he said, and was opposed to a Sunday ban that includes homeowners. He said that as a small-business owner working six days a week, there were times when Sunday was the only opportunity he had to do chores around the yard.

The law is a compromise and reasonable, Schiavoni opined. He said he’d been approached by a number of people who want a complete ban of the gas-powered gear, and predicted, “They’re not going to be happy.”

Making reference to a quote by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he pointed out that when there are two sides to an issue and the resolution leaves both sides dissatisfied, the move is the right one.