ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Leaves all over Ann Arbor are celebrating after the all-Democrat and majority-female Ann Arbor City Council voted to ban gas-powered leaf blowers. Their new ordinance says the purpose is to “protect the peace, health, safety and welfare of persons in the City of Ann Arbor.”

Ann Arbor, population approximately 122,000, is located in southeast Michigan and is home to the University of Michigan. It is considered to be a progressive city.

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In a unanimous decision, the Democratic lawmakers voted on Monday night to ban gas-powered leaf blowers citywide. The Council, which is made up of eight women and only two men, banned gas-powered leaf blowers in order to “promote the City’s sustainability goals by reducing noise, pollution, and other negative effects from leaf blowers.”

What’s in the ordinance?

The city’s new leaf blower ordinance will gradually ban gas-powered leaf blowers in the city entirely by January 1st, 2028. Their definition of “gas-powered” is powered by an internal combustion engine, including gasoline, kerosene, diesel, propane, or other volatile fuel. Their definition of a “leaf blower” is a powered portable, handheld, or backpack vacuum or blower used outdoors for the purpose of blowing or vacuuming light materials, such as dust, dirt, leaves, grass or plant clippings, stones, trash, or debris. It does not include snowblowers.

Yes, you can still snowplow your driveway with a gas-powered snowblower in Ann Arbor. At least for now.

Citing noise, health and pollution concerns, the City Council voted to have the gas-powered leaf blowers completely phased out by January of 2028. In the meantime, they may only be used from October 1st through May 31st starting in 2024 through 2027.

That means that next summer, leaves will be free to blow about the city if a homeowner or renter cannot afford or doesn’t want to purchase an electric leaf blower. Instead, the disabled and elderly who live on fixed incomes and have health problems will need to start enjoying looking at leaves, hire someone with an electric leaf blower or get someone to rake their yard for them.

Are there any exceptions?

There are exceptions to the new gas-powered leaf blower ban, even in 2018 when the citywide ban goes into effect. The ordinance says that any leaf blower may be used in an emergency to protect health, safety or property – or to restore property immediately after an emergency such as to clear a walkway, driveway or street from debris flowing a storm or other natural disaster.

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Additionally, any leaf blower may be used in street, sidewalk or other paving construction or repair at any time when such work is otherwise permitted. A turbine blower can be used at anytime of the year and leaf blowers may be used outside of the hours of operation when necessary to prepare recreational facilities for use such as golf courses or playing fields or to maintain public facilities.

Before the vote, the Council members held a public hearing and got mixed feedback. One contractor said the transition to electric leaf blowers could cost his business thousands of dollars. Another important issue that contractors have with the electric leaf blowers is that they say the batteries don’t have enough power for commercial use.

How does the ordinance impact lawn care businesses?

The Ann Arbor City Council appears to have done a gradual ban instead of an immediate one to reduce the instant economic burden the law would have on lawn care businesses. Council member Jenn Cornell said that the four-year phaseout should give contractors enough time to find “alternative” blowers.

City Councilperson Dharma Akmon told Michigan News Source that she supported the ban for “human health, reducing emissions pollution, and mitigating the noise nuisance. This ordinance  started in response to resident concerns, and we have since received a lot of positive feedback on this change.”

Offenders of the new leaf blower ordinance will face fines if they go against the Council member’s new edicts – if they get caught (it’s complaint-driven). A violation is a civil infraction punishable by a civil fine of not less than $100 plus costs for a first offense and not less than $250 plus costs for a subsequent offense – up to $500 plus costs. Fines will go towards helping low-income residents and small businesses purchase electric leaf blowers.

Is this a trend?

Banning gas-powered leaf blowers is becoming more and more popular across the country by progressive cities for both environmental and noise reasons. Many in the media have reported that the leaf blower bans and regulations went on overdrive during the pandemic when kids were doing virtual learning and more adults were working from home. The “noise pollution” from the very loud leaf blowers became a menace to the homebodies during those times.

According to Audubon over 100 cities and towns across the country have banned or restricted the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, advising community members and businesses to transition to electric-powered ones.

But will local governments really be satisfied with businesses and community members trading a gas-powered leaf blower for an electric one? They are still noisy. There are those who say that electric leaf blowers do damage to the environment as well. The Beverly Press says that all leaf blowers “rob the soil of proper mulch, blow off valuable topsoil and generally ‘fry’ your plants and lawns with a continuous blast of high pressure air blowing away any beneficial insects that are helping your plants thrive.”

They add, “The damage to your health is far greater. To get an idea of how much pollution is generated, the South Coast Air Quality Management District estimates that leaf blowers in Southern California spew 5.6 tons of hydrocarbon emissions in the air per day. According to recent studies, one single leaf blower spews as much pollution in one hour as one car driven from New York to Washington, D.C. On a personal level, when a leaf blower is used near your home, the air you are breathing is a highly toxic mix of dust and dirt particles, dried animal (and sometimes human) feces, airborne pesticides and fertilizers, as well as asbestos dust from various vehicles. Breathing this mixture is the health equivalent of going outside and licking the street. If you wouldn’t lick your street, why would you breathe the same mixture every day?”