Other Florida cities issues dozens of citations for gas leaf blowers

While Winter Park will put its ordinance banning the devices to a voter referendum, some cities are enforcing rules against the noisemakers

May 4, 2024

By Beth Kassab

Bill Quinsey hears more about leaf blowers than just about anyone else in Florida, where the deafening gas-powered devices turned into a political rallying cry during the latest session of the state Legislature.

Quinsey, the code compliance manager in Naples, oversees a team that has issued 74 citations and 230 written warnings to people using the banned devices in the southwest coastal town of about 20,000 people.

“Leaf blowers are probably our No. 1 complaint [from residents] now that it’s on the books,” Quinsey said. “Some landscapers adopted it pretty quickly and others were struggling and had to get multiple citations.”

The noise, he said, is at the root of the complaints and also what drove the city to pass an ordinance that took effect in 2021 against the gas-powered machines as well as electric versions that exceed 65 decibels.

The city suspended the ordinance for about eight months during cleanup efforts after Hurricane Ian, he said, but began enforcement again about a year ago.

Education, including signs and emails directly to landscape companies, are a big part of the effort.

“We’re up to 300 unique landscapers we’ve contacted,” he said. “As soon as we get everybody on board, we get new people” who move businesses in to Naples.

Naples, in conservative Collier County where Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than two to one, is just one of the Florida cities already enforcing such an ordinance while a state senator turned Winter Park’s version of a ban into the latest poster child against “government overreach.”

The Winter Park City Commission voted last month to let voters decide next year whether its ban — originally passed in 2022 but not yet enforced — will stay on the books.

Naples isn’t alone.

The town of Palm Beach, known as home to the estate of former President Donald Trump, also prohibits gas leaf blowers, along with South Miami, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest and Miami Beach among others.

Since Feb. 1, 2022, Miami Beach, for example, has conducted 675 service calls related to leaf blowers, including complaints and proactive inspections. During that time, the city issued 21 written warnings and 56 violations.

“We’ve seen many benefits since transitioning away from gas-powered leaf blowers, including less noise and no longer needing to utilize gas and oil,” said Melissa Berthier, spokeswoman for the city of about 80,000.

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