As ban on gas-powered leaf blowers nears, city to offer rebate on electric blowers
The ban aimed at reducing noise and pollution was initially set to go into effect in 2020, but was delayed until July 2024
Jan. 4, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Residents looking to purchase an electric leaf blower to comply with a new ban on the loud, gas-powered variety will be eligible for a $50 rebate in the form a utility credit under a new program to be considered by the City Commission on Wednesday.
The ban, which will take effect in July, comes with fines ranging from $60 to $300 for violations.
“Remind your landscape company,” reads a city notice, “All internal combustion engine or motor leaf blowers will be prohibited within the city limits.”
The one-time rebate will show up as a credit on residents’ utility bills, according to the program rules. The rebate is only available to residents.
The Washington Post reported recently that cities across the country have put similar bans on gas leaf blowers into place such as Washington, D.C, Miami Beach and Evanston, Ill. California is set to begin enforcing a statewide ban on the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment.
Electric equipment is healthier for humans and the environment because there are fewer toxic emissions and comes without the jarring buzzsaw-like grind of a gas engine.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
What a joke, this is insane and truly unfair to the lawn companies, especially the small ones. I own the Ryobi 40v lawn equipment and those blowers are loud too, the batteries are $100 each and at best last 15-20
Mins when fully charged. They’re going to need multiple batteries daily for this to work and a way to charge them during the day.
Why do woke governments consistently search for solutions to problems that don’t exist? For more than a century residents solved this task with a leaf rake you can purchase at Miller’s hardware for less than $20.00! What a waste of time for the city staff attempting to enforce another stupid idea a City Commissioner came up with!
Kudos to all involved. The transition will be but a tiny bump in the road compared to the long term benefits.
I didn’t sign up to live in California.
Way to tax our hard-working landscapers, Winter Park. Your priorities are way off.
My landscaper tells me “Hell no, we won’t be getting electric leaf blowers.” And you people wonder why Trump gets even more popular as these ridiculous regulations go into effect?
And most people I speak with who support this regulation support it because they don’t like the noise and are not out to save the planet. So, let’s put mufflers on the blowers instead of having small businesses spend a lot of money for nothing, except to help elected officials say they are big on stopping climate change.
This is AWESOME! Great News! Noise pollution by leaf blowers is insane. This has bothered me and my neighbors for years. Working from home has amplified the problem since Covid. The evolution will be painful at first but good for our communities and the environment since most leafblowers are two-stroke engines which pollute more than 4-stroke.
Change, always!, Results in a negative effect for some people and a positive effect for others. Horse and buggy versus Car, offshore, wind, etc.
I suspect the large landscape companies will be angry and frustrated about the financial outlet for new equipment, then a couple years from now they will have figured it out and possibly appreciate the lack of gas, oil, maintenance, noise, earplugs, etc.
The small operators, this could be very difficult financially.
I would be fine going either way, but I support this evolution with acceptance of moving forward with a healthier and more peaceful environment
Thank you John.
This is not about noise, but rather the pollution being blown into the water ways.
Pesticide pollution is killing us!
I agree my lungs are not good i can smell the gas fumes a block Away from the gas leaf blowers !Barbara
Wow .. talk about Big Brother! It seems the Elitist Martha’s Vineyard types have taken over Winter Parks city hall! Typical liberal hypocrites using the playbook from some of the most progressive areas in the nation as the blueprint, Washington DC, Evanston Il. and the state of California. Why gas powered leaf blowers, why stop with blowers, why not lawn mowers, or big green eggs even all automobiles that also produce toxic emissions? How about house lights that use natural gas that are all over WP?? Winter Park has gone off the Deep End Truly in its all things Green & Woke, the inmates clearly now are running the liberal Hypocrite asylum. What’s next … Will Winter Park Defund the Police – JUST LIKE EVANSTON, WASHINGTON DC AND CALIFORNIA? Why not go all in on the Woke agenda and eliminate the Police altogether? Idiots.
To the Concerned Citizen,
Would be good to know if you’re a WP resident.
If yes, maybe you should walk down Park Ave between 7am and 8am and listen to the leaf blowers. That said, if you’re going to lable me a liberal hypocrite, at least post your name in case we meet at the asylum you mentioned.
I agree with every statement you made and ditto on idiots.
Concernd Citzen,
your spelling & punctuation are off. you think Desantis and/or Trump has their lawns manicured with gas blowers? hahaha
To the concerned Citizen, I agree with your comments and add: Since Covid, it has been hard enough to find people who want to work. Small and large landscape companies have a tough time keeping legal employees.
What about retired WP citizens who are on a fixed income? My lawn service will undoubtedly need to raise my rate again or will just cancel my service due to this ridiculous ordinance. They are a wonderful small family operated company who has done a great job for me for many years.
No one likes to hear lawn movers or blowers early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, but why strap homeowners with even more costs, which I would gladly exchange for a few short minutes of noise.
I have lived in Winter Park for over 50 years and am now on a fixed income. I have seen many changes to our lovely City and have seen the commission change in ways that have started to astound me. Fortunately, I have had the blessing of a wonderful father and son landscape team that have taken care of my yard for years. This ridiculous and ill-thought-out ordinance will likely cause them to have to raise my rate or leave Winter Park clients completely.
Do the commissioners think that a lawn mower or an edger is quieter? Do they think that they give off less fumes? Do they not understand that to make the batteries for battery-driven equipment causes a much greater harm to the environment and the disposal of them is creating a huge problem. Requireing a landscaper to buy new equipment on the small margin they make already or to bring an electric cord and plug in to a homeowners exterior outlets, is simply unreasonable.
If your ears are so very sensitive to the sound of a blower, simply require landscapes to not start until 8 am. That way Ed can have his morning 7am Park Avenue walk in peace.
Sent the article to my landscaper who has not yet replied. Assuming he’s trying to figure out how the heck he’s going to pay for all the new equipment and which houses he will drop to make up for the extra time he will now spend because of the ineffective electric leaf blowers. I’m sure if he still does my lawn it’s going to cost me. More than a $50 rebate too. Ugh.
I haven’t had a major role in a while. I’d love to audition for the Commission’s production of “How to Lose a Landscaper in 10 Days”!
Buy a battery-operated leaf blower for your lawn company and you may be able to get a rebate from the city. Or offer to fund some of it for your company. This would help offset the cost to those that keep winter park looking good. Or buy them an extra battery. Or rake your own yard or let it naturally mulch and don’t worry about leaf blowing. Winter Park already had too much gas in the environment and leaf blowing is an irrational act anyways.
The mentality of the person that supports this ordinance is very interesting to me. I am surrounded by homeowners that employ yard services. (I’m too cheap) 3 houses/Friday. 1 Monday morning. 1 Sunday afternoon. 1 Thursday. Rarely am I bothered by leaf blowers intruding on my quiet. I don’t get it. The blowers are the last step in lawn care-“mow, blow and go”. I can handle a total of 15-20 minutes per week of blower noise spread over 4 days.
Maybe some folks in WP spend too much time looking for problems. “Too much traffic”, “Trucks should be blocked on my street”-hello, it’s C. Florida. “Not enough green space”-WP is off the charts with per person green space ratio. “More affordable housing”-City of WP owns over 700 subsidized, low-income housing. “Leaf blower noise bothers me”-but mowers, edgers, weed whackers are equally noisy.
I was playing golf with a 3 other people. One guy constantly moaned about his very good game-he wasn’t playing perfect golf. Another player came up to me and said under his breath, “If he got a hole in one, he’d complain about the side of the cup the ball went in.” These are the people that have the ears of this commission.
There are far more hours of leaf blowing going on in Pitt ‘s neighborhood than he’s hearing on his dead end street. Some DAYS blowers are going 2-4 HOURS and it’s very annoying. I don’t know whether battery blower noise is substantially better but there is merit in eliminating a lot of gas fuming. It’s not a be-all end-all solution but it’s a quieter step forward. There just needs to be a fair solution for the equipment conversion cost and change in use expense ( gas savings vs. batteries and chargers).
“There are far more hours of leaf blowing going on in Pitt ‘s neighborhood than he’s hearing on his dead end street”
I’m surrounded by homes. I guess your incredible insight into my location requires your anonymous post. Loser.
Following the display of elites ( Mayor & Commissioners) discussing their personal landscape decisions at the meeting yesterday just confirms that WP residents don’t have a say. Don’t believe this will end will for the elites. This Commission meeting was an Alumni a meeting for Rollins. You will soon see 5 and 6 story building along Fairbanks. Our Commission honored Rollins & its President yesterday by approving building outside code- It’s The City of Rollins
The decision to allow Rollins to build buildings that reach a height beyond what our city permits illustrates a willingness to s-t-r-e-t-c-h code rules depending on the identity of the applicant. It was necessary for staff to declare the existence of a massive slope of great pitch on the building site that would camouflage the height of some buildings when viewed from certain angles. Who can dispute this unless they hire experts and consultants? (David Copperfield may have been consulted by Rollins and staff in this case.) But the real forehead smacker is watching Rollins being allowed over and over again to add massive square footage in the city without providing the needed additional parking for that square footage.
Glad to see WP’s “watch dog” is still feisty as ever!
Remind me, when did the citizens of Winter Park have a say in this. Remind me, what is the purpose for this.
It seems like a Green New Deal SCAM agenda item. Start with a small object and expand to other objects (ex: mowers and cars). Why not eliminate gas powered blowers altogether and go to BROOMS. That’s what we Winter Park residents used to use, and it had the benefit of giving residents exercise. The other benefit was that debris didn’t get blown into the street. It was swept into the gutter and bagged. So, even less debris into the waterways.
“Come on man”, I mean commissioners, let’s get real about this and repeal this unenforceable ordinance.
Seems like much of the debate is cost/economics vs. noise. Are there any scientific minded Winter Parkers? Does anyone remember the purpose of this policy? Oh, yeah, referring to leaf blower debate here.
Where can I find this ordinance in Spanish so I can give it to my lawn guy.