Tisbury advances leaf-blower ban despite concerns

Select board member Roy Cutrer warned that voters might reject the proposal.

0
Tisbury town hall. —MV Times

A proposed Island-wide gas-powered leaf blower ban has advanced to Tisbury’s annual town meeting warrant, though officials anticipate voters will push back come spring.

The proposals to the six Vineyard towns from the Vineyard Conservation Society are intended to phase out gas-powered models after three years, and advocates have been going to select boards town by town to get the ban on all six town meeting warrants.

The Tisbury select board advanced a draft proposal last Wednesday, with the ability to make what they called “minor changes” based on pending input from town counsel David Doneski. The board did not offer their endorsement. 

Board members expressed concern, with one worried that the proposal could restrict the rights of homeowners.

The bylaws brought to Vineyard towns would prohibit all leaf blower use on Sundays and federal holidays, and completely ban gas-powered blowers in March 2028.

At the town select board meeting last Wednesday, board member Roy Cutrer raised concern for homeowners who might have little time available to tend to their yards. “Personally, I would like to see that — if you have an electric leaf blower — that you’re allowed to blow your leaves on Sunday, if that’s the time that you have,” he said.

Residents might defeat the proposal when time comes to vote this spring, he warned. “The argument is against the gas-powered leaf blowers, but we’re limiting the electric leaf blowers. You’re biting off too much.” he said.

Board member Christina Colarusso, however, expressed support for the ban. “Very infrequently do I hear [leaf blowers] in my neighborhood, but I see how it could be a nuisance, especially if you live alongside several different homeowners that all have different landscaper companies.”

Vineyard Haven resident Margot Sharff presented the proposal to the board. “I did walk the streets of Vineyard Haven the past seven months speaking to our residents, and there is a great concern about the noise level of gas-powered leaf blowers, and also the environmental impacts and the soil health,” Sharff said.

Zada Clarke, the society’s director of advocacy and community organizing, told the board that the proposed ban is meant to improve quality of life. “We are very cognizant that most people do their lawn work on the weekend … There’s six days for you to operate a leaf blower, and especially in downtown Vineyard Haven … it’s constant noise.”

Martha’s Vineyard Commission special project planner Dan Doyle said that the regulation was a good fit for Tisbury. “In Tisbury, we have very small lots, by and large. So if we do have an electric, I suspect they can cover that in a pretty short amount of time relative to some of the up-Island properties. And we’ll be able to, with enough advance notice, make that adjustment.”

Tisbury climate committee chair Melinda Loberg expressed interest in commitments from town departments of public works to invest in compliant equipment. The Town of Tisbury would be exempt from the regulations, as the proposal states currently; it is the only town with such a clause. Town department of public works director Kirk Metell said at the meeting that his department has purchased electric blowers, but that theirs are louder than 65 decibels. 

“We were thinking that it would be really nice and signal great support if the towns did hold their DPWs accountable to also comply, so that the taxpayers and the homeowners and everybody else would say ‘Well, if they’re doing it too, that makes me more likely to not complain or grouse,’” Loberg suggested.

As written, the general bylaw amendment would allow leaf blower use only from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday and 10 am to 5 pm Saturday, banning use permitted on Sundays and federal holidays.

Gas-powered blowers specifically would be allowed during certain times of year — from March 15 to May 31 and October 15 to January 15. No more than two leaf blowers would be allowed in use at the same time on the same property, and electric leaf blowers could not be louder than 65 decibels.

The society’s current proposals in the different Vineyard towns are available here on their website.

Final articles for Tisbury’s annual town meeting must be submitted by January 28.