Residents can make their feelings known about the proposed leaf blower bylaw ahead of Town Meeting at a public forum on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Town Office Building.
The Leaf Blower Study Committee (a subcommittee of the Conservation Commission) wants to limit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers because research has shown they can cause health problems from their noise, exhaust, and the airborne pollutants they stir up.
If approved on March 23, the bylaw proposed by the Leaf Blower Study Committee (LBSC) would regulate the use of leaf blowers as follows:
- Gas-powered leaf blowers may be used during specified weeks and times of day for spring and fall cleanups.
- Electric leaf blowers may be used during the spring, summer, and fall.
- No leaf blowers may be used during the winter.
After the Board of Selectmen urged the group to do more public outreach, members gathered signatures at the transfer station and Donelan’s on a petition supporting the measure, as well as an online petition that had been signed by 203 people as of February 27. Town groups including Mothers Out Front and the Green Energy Commission have also endorsed it, LBSC member Robin Wilkerson said.
At the selectman’s meeting on February 25, residents asked questions about the exact definition of a leaf blower and whether the measure would apply to tractors or lawnmowers used to mulch and blow leaves, or machine that vacuum up leaves rather than blow them.
“You’re going to get more questions than we can think of” at Town Meeting, Selectman Jonathan Dwyer said.
LBSC members assured selectmen that the group would not be returning later with more proposals for leaf blowers or other types of noisy yard equipment.
“People are very worried that we’re going to take away their lawnmowers and chainsaws. We have no designs on other equipment at all,” Wilkerson said.
“Is the ultimate goal of this committee to ban leaf blowing, period, and this is sort of the first stage of that?” Selectman James Craig asked.
“Not at all,” Wilkerson said. “This is a group that will not be continuing to meet after Town Meeting.”
I’d like to encourage Lincoln residents who use gas-powered leaf blowers to attend this meeting at the town offices tonight to discuss the proposed leaf blower ban. If you do not own an electric leaf blower, the committee’s proposal bans you from using your gas-powered blower for 8 months of the year. I’d also like to correct the statement in the the above announcement about First Parish Lincoln being an endorser of the proposal. As a member of the First Parish in Lincoln, to my knowledge, there has been no parish-wide endorsement of this proposed ban. Please come to provide your input to the committee.
I believe there is a misquote in the fourth paragraph of the article above that reads, “…and the First Parish in Lincoln have also endorsed it.”
The First Parish In Lincoln neither endorses or opposes the leaf blower issue. Individual members of the church may personally support or oppose the matter, but the Church as an organization makes no representation as to taking a stand either way. Thank you very much.
R.L. Smith for the Parish Committee of The First Parish In Lincoln.