Gov. DeSantis vetoes leaf blower study in win that comes too late for Winter Park
The city is scheduled to let voters decide next year if it should keep its ban on gas-powered leaf blowers
June 27, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Gov. Ron DeSantis used his veto pen to cut broad swaths of the state’s budget this month, including a tiny $100,000 line item pushed by Sen. Jason Brodeur in response to Winter Park’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.
Whether the governor intended it or not, the cut is something of a moral victory for Winter Park, which argued the state should not prohibit cities and counties from designing their own unique policies to control noise and harmful emissions from the devices.
The language that accompanies Brodeur’s study did just that — meaning no new cities could adopt leaf blower bans until after the study was complete. With the veto, however, cities and counties are free to join Naples, Key Biscayne, Palm Beach and others that have regulated blowers.
Winter Park’s ban, which proved as controversial as brick streets and new development in this wealthy town of 30,000 just north of Orlando, was set to take effect this summer after a more than two-year delay to allow landscape companies and residents time to convert to electric blowers.
But the policy adopted in 2022 by the City Commission to limit noise and harmful emissions came to a halt earlier this year after landscapers asked for more time and some characterized the ban as a “woke” government overreach.
That piqued the interest of Brodeur, who told city officials he would push a statewide preemption on local leaf blower policies if Winter Park did not allow voters to decide the issue on its next ballot.
Winter Park took steps to do just that, but Brodeur went ahead with inserting language into the state budget anyway.
Seeking Rents, a statewide newsletter that covers how business influences state policy, explained it this way:
“Florida lawmakers aren’t supposed to put policy legislation into the budget,” the site reported. “But to get around that, they will sometimes shoehorn some kind of fig leaf line item into the spending plan — and then add all the new policy they want in a separate piece of legislation known as the ‘budget implementing bill.’ … The $100,000 study was the fig leaf.”
Winter Park commissioners voted in April to put the leaf blower referendum on the March 2025 ballot along with elections for two city commission seats.
Unless the commission takes action to remove the referendum from the ballot, the vote will go forward. If voters want to keep the ban it will take effect next summer.
DeSantis also struck two additional line items specific to Winter Park from the budget. He cut $500,000 in state dollars for improvements at the intersection of Fairbanks Avenue and Denning Drive as well as $250,000 for a study into the nutrients and pollutants in the Winter Park Chain of Lakes.
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Thank you to the commission for putting this matter to a vote of the residents.
Or, first it’s a leaf blower and next we will be told what kind of a car we can drive.
Don’t act like a toddler. Your freedom is not under attack because the city wants to be a leader in noise and pollution initiatives.
I look forward to not listening to excessively loud leaf blowers for hours a day while working from home. The landscaping companies have been given more than enough time to switch to electric.
Freedom is under definitely attack in Winter Park. If I can go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and buy a gas powered leaf blower who are the Mayor & a couple of Commissioners to say I can’t use it? The residents need to STOP Government Overreach. It’s not about landscaping companies having enough time to switch- it’s about letting the market decide- It’s the American Way🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
People vote with their wallets, even in WP. I’ll be surprised if anyone wants their lawn bill to go up 25%. Think how many wine dinners, cigars, designer bags, shoes and watches that could buy. Publicly they’ll talk about being green but from the privacy of the voting booth I’ll bet it’s a no.
To the talkers about leaf blowers and freedom. What is freedom in this case? Is freedom being bothered any time of the day by the noise leaf blowers? Or breathing the exhausting gas while walking in the park? Is freedom the right to bother others without any accountability? Is that what you mean as freedom?
What a novel idea, letting the people vote on what freedoms they want to give up. However, in this case, it is letting the people vote to get back what was already taken away.
If banning gas-fired leaf blowers is to be truly a choice of the citizens, the city should immediately resend the current ban, and the ballot should be asking the citizens to approve implementing a ban.
If they want to be fair about switching to electric leaf blowers, then provide a fair and equitable buyback program to all citizens who have gas powered leaf blowers.
I have no problem with anyone in the city owning a gas powered leaf blower as long as they never have it blowing when people are walking by, biking, or driving their car; they keep it at least 15 feet from any neighbors windows; they use it for just a few seconds to quickly blow the leaves in a row and then use rake and broom to dispose of the debris; users stop with the nonsense about rights of blowers and fears that the commission will come after their cars; they don’t use them within 25 feet of any lake or pond; they never blow it onto their neighbors yard; and they only use it Monday thru Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4: p.m. Problem solved!
Sorry Wildman but you are assuming that everyone has a landscaper or is retired. I work 5 days a week from 8-5+. I am a DIY person who enjoys the outdoors and gardening. I take great pride in doing my own landscaping. These hours that you give are not conducive to people that actually work, have careers, and are not retired. I am very courteous with my blower and stop it when there are people walking, biking or driving by me. However, I live on a corner lot so I do need to use my blower more than a few seconds.