CC Minutes - 02/20/07 Public Hearing

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Susan Polchert , 3143 Riverplace Drive, noted her objections to the use of the leaf blowers due to noise and the air pollution they created. She said that three days a week, someone was using a leaf blower on her block, forcing her to keep her windows closed. Often blowers were used for three hours at a time in her neighborhood and there were still bits of leaf and debris in the streets. She did not think the decibel level of blowers could be compared to conversation. Jerry Oltion , 750 Brookside Drive, thanked Ms. Taylor for introducing the topic and council for consider- ing it. However, he did not think the noise ordinance before the council would do what was needed as it would “rubber stamp” the status quo and not prevent noise pollution. He said if council would not grant a ban he hoped it would support alternatives. He thought something would work if the City committed to enforcing it. He said leaf and mulch blowers were conveniences, not necessities, and that convenience was bought at the expense of others. He thought a realistic noise limit, if enforced, would be useful, as well as restricting them to the hours suggested by Mr. Jones. He also suggested a muffler retrofit program where owners could exchange noisy mufflers for quiet mufflers. Doug Wilson , 35890 Bain Lane, Creswell, sweeper, discussed his company’s services and asked the council to consider his firm’s livelihood as well as the livability and cleanliness of Eugene. There was not enough time to do the work his company did with brooms alone. Harry Hayes , 25804 Wiggins Lane, Veneta, a parking lot sweeper, said his company could not do its job without blowers. His firm kept Eugene the clean, nice city it was. The time restraints being discussed made it difficult for his company, as it was not possible to get into most commercial parking lots before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m. David Andrews , 2670 City View Street, favored noise limitations because of the impact of excessive noise on hearing. His own hearing was damaged to the degree he could not hear without an aid. He agreed the default for Eugene should be peace and quiet. He had a leaf blower and a lawn mower but they were electric and made much less noise than a gas blower. He anticipated an increase in deafness from such equipment. Ed Page , 26538 Pearl Road, a board member of the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association and the local Lane County chapter president, said his association was opposed to new decibel limits and ban on leaf blowers. He asked how the City would enforce that ban given that most blowers used by the landscape industry already met Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. Reducing the decibel level meant reducing power, thus increasing the time needed to do a job. Mr. Page pointed out the costs of lesser or no equipment would be passed on to the consumer, which he anticipated would lead to an outcry, particularly among those on fixed incomes who used landscape companies for landscape maintenance. He questioned if Eugene’s attempt to dictate what equipment was used by the industry was restraint of trade. Marvin Cowley , 1284 Frogs Leap Lane, suggested that everything in life was a tradeoff. He sold leaf blowers and he acknowledged they were noisy. He said that the question was whether people were willing to rake their yards for two to three hours or complete the job in a few minutes. He asked if residents were willing to pay landscape firms three times as much to do the job because the job would take three times longer than before. Mr. Cowley also asked if residents who did their own work, particularly those senior citizens or people on fixed incomes with only Saturday available to them, would be willing to spend all that day doing work that would take only a few moments with power equipment. He believed the ordinance was MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 20, 2007 Page 5 Public Hearing