The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A suggested Township ordinance amendment that would ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers six months out of the year was the main topic of discussion at the January 5 Environmental Advisory Commission meeting.
The idea was brought up by Commissioner Arnold Schmidt, who said he was concerned about the amount of noise and air pollution caused by the fossil fueled machines.
The proposal discussed by the Commission would allow the fossil fuel-powered leaf blowers only from March 15 to May 15 and October 1 through December 15, and would prohibit them the rest of the year.
The reasoning for the split prohibition, Schmidt wrote in a side note to the Township Council, was that the more powerful gas-powered leaf blowers should be allowed during Fall cleanup, when more power is needed.
“The Council can reassess this in the future, if so desired, for stricter prohibition times as electric and battery operated equipment becomes more common,” Schmidt wrote in the side note.
Use of the fossil fuel-powered blowers would be limited to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
The use of the blowers would be prohibited on Sundays and national holidays, according to the proposal.
Violations would be determined by “verified complaints,” when a resident or tenant “is affected at or within his or her property line,” according to the proposal.
The ordinance amendment would become effective one year after its passage “to allow operators time to convert from fossil fuel leaf blowers to electric or battery-operated equipment,” according to the proposal.
Commissioners seemed amenable to the proposal. They decided to review it in time for the next meeting, in February, when they will decide whether to send it on to the Township Council for consideration.
“And then, and again, you know, what we put out there, who knows, the council might say, no, we’re not ready to do this,” Schmidt said. “Or they might look at it and say, we’ll do this, we’ll take parts of it and we’ll do it starting in two years.”
“You know, all it is, it’s a shot in the dark that they might decide to do,” he said.
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