Skip to content
Written Comment to City Council Meeting on May 7, 2024
By Phil Bowman
I am pleased the City Council recognized the importance of reducing our local air pollution as well as reducing our greenhouse gas emissions with your approval of the gas-powered leaf blower ban in December.
This will make a noticeable improvement in the quality of life in Pleasanton for both the residents as well as the landscape contractors who have to breathe toxic fumes all day.
I recognize and can understand that some people are reluctant to support this measure because of the economic burden it may place on small landscape contractors.
I believe there are a number of ways for homeowners to mitigate the financial burden on their small landscape contractors. For example, the homeowner can:
-
Offer to increase their monthly fees to cover the costs to upgrade to electric. (I did this with my landscaper the week the ordinance was passed and he was very grateful.)
-
Offer to let the landscaper plug-in to their electrical outlet if they choose to use a corded leaf blower or to recharge their batteries.
-
Buy an electric leaf blower and make it available for the landscaper to use while they are working at their home.
-
Ask their landscaper to use a rake and broom instead of a leaf blower, making it clear that it’s OK if the yard isn’t completely free of leaves and debris. (Suggest that the landscaper not spend any more time than they would if they used their old gas leaf blower so there wouldn’t be more expense involved.)
I can see that having this discussion with a landscaper may be difficult for some homeowners. It would be great if the City could create a bilingual flyer with suggested talking points like this and post it on the city web site. Homeowners could print it out and give it to their landscapers as they discuss which options would work best for them.
These are some fairly simple options to help make this gas leaf-blower ban more successful without imposing too great a burden on the small landscapers.
