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After more than a year of study and debate, the Somerville City Council has passed a new ordinance that sets guidelines for when and how leaf blowers may be used within the city
Many have felt annoyed with a neighbor or contracted groundskeeper running one of these contraptions either at inappropriate times – such as weekend mornings when one hopes to sleep in a little longer in the morning – or upwind of us as we hope to breathe some fresh air while we enjoy the outdoors whenever we wish to.
Let’s face it, these things can be loud and the environmental impact of the noise they generate can’t be ignored.
The ordinance restricts the use of leaf blowers to certain days and times. Specifically, the following general guidelines have been established:
Lawn care businesses that want to use leaf blowers in Somerville must submit an operations plan to the city’s Inspectional Services Department (ISD) for approval before using leaf blowers.
Leaf blowers may only be used March 15 through May 31 and October 1 through December 15 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Leaf blowers may not be used on Sundays or municipal holidays, with certain exceptions as outlined in the ordinance.
When in use, leaf blowers should be set to the lowest setting needed to complete the job.
Violating the leaf blower ordinance could result in a fine of $300 per violation. Visit somervillema.gov/leafblowers to learn more about Somerville’s new leaf blower ordinance.
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I would like to congratulate the Somerville City Council and the city administration for striking this blow against the lawncare industrial complex. Over the pressing demands of responding to the Covid pandemic, the Council and administration spent, what seemed to be, thousands of hours debating and crafting this ordinance. I can now work on my podcast or update my Instagram or tweet secure that my thoughts will no longer be disturbed by these wailing banshees of environmental destruction. I look forward to attending (virtually of course) the swearing in of Somerville’s first Landscape Enforcement Chief and I welcome the officers of this new department in my neighborhood. Let it be known that the days of Somerville as a yard care wild west are over!
I also applaud the Council’s and administration’s continuing work towards the elimination of another major source of noise – children. From zoning policy that encourages the building of family-hostile housing to the yearlong closure of the schools, Somerville continues to advance the cause of peaceful streets free of the cries of babies or the shrieks of kids at play.
I look forward to the day when the only sounds you hear in our streets are the horns or ride-shares, the rumble of Amazon delivery trucks and the barks of furbabies!
Wonder how this will affect roofers, who I hear using leaf blowers when stripping a roof more than I have ever heard from people cleaning up their yards.
Another thing to drive seniors away and more contractors who won’t do work in the city. As a senior who has medical conditions that makes sweeping and raking something I can not do, therefore, using leaf blower is the way to keep my property clean. If no one needs to use leaf blowers from June through September according to the city counselors, then there should be no need for street cleaning during those months either! Give us back our parking spots for the summer.
Also expecting companies to list all their equipment etc is out of controll, they will stop working in Somerville.
With money saved on street cleaning, the city can use that money to have someone take and sweep for the seniors.