Senator and commissioner duel in final days before vote on leaf blower ban

Ahead of Tuesday’s election, voters are hearing from Sen. Jason Brodeur and Commissioner Todd Weaver about the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers

March 7, 2025

By Kathryn Brudzinski

In the final days and weeks leading up to Winter Park’s election on Tuesday, a state senator and a city commissioner faced off with dueling emails and campaign ads over the ballot question about a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.

Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, used a political committee he controls to pay for ads that call the ban “bad for local businesses.”

Brodeur, who got involved in the controversy over the ban last year and forced commissioners to put the issue on the ballot by threatening state action, told the Voice this week he didn’t think the commission adequately addressed the needs of the business community and the “obvious burden” to consumers through increased costs.

“If people want battery powered blowers, they can just hire them now,” Brodeur said in a text message. “A ban on choices in the marketplace is a slippery slope. Next it will be trimmers, then lawn mowers, then they’re telling you what color your house is and that you must have a brick mailbox. They are not a homeowners association, they’re a city commission.”

Brodeur is the chairperson of Citizens for Solutions, the political committee that sent the mailers and emails.

In a Feb. 28 email signed by Brodeur, the committee argued that the ban was “not just about leaf blowers – it’s about stopping unnecessary regulations that hurt working families and small businesses.”

Commissioner Todd Weaver, one of the most outspoken advocates for the ban, sent an email to residents this week and questioned what he called Brodeur’s “strange attention to local issues,” while so many critical state issues loom such as low wages and homeowner insurance rates.

“One must wonder why we have a state senator, who lives in Sanford, and who continues to meddle in local Winter Park affairs,” read the email from Weaver, who opted not to run for re-election this year.

In January, Brodeur sent residents emails to argue against an unrelated city matter, but one also personal to Weaver. He urged residents to speak out against Weaver’s request to add his home to the city’s historic register. The request was ultimately tabled.

Brodeur’s mostly Seminole County district folds in a small piece of Orange County, including Winter Park.

Weaver argued the commission provided contractors “ample time” to make the equipment switch by delaying enforcement multiple times since the leaf-blower ordinance was first passed in 2022.

He also emphasized the long-term cost and public health benefits electric blowers can offer, despite the equipment being more expensive up-front.

“The energy to run electric lawn tools costs about ¼ of what gasoline currently costs,” the email read. “This does not translate to higher costs for customers as Brodeur implies. Worst case: the cost difference is a wash … More importantly, it is about the health of landscaping workers using gas-powered tools.”

Voters will find the question on their Tuesday ballots along with the race for City Commission Seat 3 between incumbent Kris Cruzada and candidate Justin Vermuth.

A “yes” vote will repeal the ordinance and lift the ban on internal combustion, or gas-powered, leaf blowers. A “no” vote will allow for the ban to remain in place. If voters keep the ban it would take effect in July.

The ban was unanimously approved by the commission in January 2022, but has never been enforced.

Other Florida cities like Miami Beach, Naples, Palm Beach, South Miami, Key Biscayne and Pinecrest have similar ordinances to reduce noise from leaf blowers.

Winter Park’s ban received major pushback from local landscape companies in the months before it was set to take effect last year. They complained about the cost of changing equipment and concerns about battery power that would slow them down and hurt business.

That’s when Brodeur stepped in as the state Legislature was still in session. He threatened to write a law that would cancel out the ban if the city didn’t once again delay enforcement and put the question on this year’s ballot for voters to decide.

The result was a 3-2 decision by the commission in April 2024 to place the issue on the ballot. Mayor Sheila DeCiccio, Commissioner Craig Russell and Cruzada voted in favor. Commissioner Marty Sullivan and Weaver voted against.

Brodeur still added language to the state’s budget attempting to prohibit cities from enacting gas-powered leaf blower ordinances until after a $100,000 study on the life cycle of gas-powered versus battery-powered blowers was completed.

The study was vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

During the commission’s April 2024 meeting DeCiccio and others voiced their concerns about Brodeur’s approach and the future impacts of the referendum.

“I am worried about the precedent that this will set if any time someone does not like what the commission does, they can complain to the senator and threaten preemption,” DeCiccio said.

She also said that landscapers had nearly three years to make the transition to electric leaf blowers from the time of the original ordinance.

Weaver said during that meeting that in addition to numerous noise complaints, severe health and environmental impacts associated with the use of the gas-powered lawn equipment were also cause for concern.

“The reason this tool was picked out, not only for the noise, is because it’s the only one of the arsenal of gas-powered tools that almost always run at full-throttle,” Weaver said, adding that he was concerned Brodeur had not effectively researched the issue.

The ordinance came following noise complaints, which intensified as more residents worked from home during the pandemic, and environmental and health concerns. The commission gave residents and their landscape contractors 30 months to make the switch to alternative equipment like electric leaf blowers.

The city offered a one-per-household $50 rebate for electric leaf blowers purchased between Jan. 15, 2024 to Jan. 1, 2025 that would be applied as a credit to a resident’s utility bill.

Gas-powered leaf blowers typically use a two-stroke engine that mixes gasoline with oil to operate, burning a portion of the mixture and emitting the rest as an aerosol exhaust. Studies have shown public health concerns related to the exhaust because it contains known carcinogens and can be linked to diseases such as cancer.

Another concern is the level of noise the equipment produces. A 2017 study found that the sound produced by gas-powered leaf blowers can travel long distances in a community at “levels known to increase the risk of adverse health effects.”

Populations like workers, children, the elderly, the sick, those who work from home or work overnight shifts are considered most vulnerable to the impacts.

WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com

Kathryn Brudzinski is a reporter based in Orlando and a University of Central Florida graduate with a degree in journalism, as well as a certificate in public and professional writing. Her work has appeared in Oviedo Community News, VoxPopuli and The Charge.