It's a warm, sunny day, and you and your husband or wife are enjoying a relaxing spring morning on your patio, sipping a cup of coffee and sharing both the morning newspaper and some quiet conversation.
Suddenly, right between the comics and the classifieds, and right in the middle of the discussion about who would pick up the kids from soccer practice, the neighborhood is invaded by an engine's roar.
The conversation ends abruptly, and so does the serenity of the spring morning. Even the coffee doesn't taste as good as it did. The neighbor's gardener has fired up the leaf blower.
They're loud, they're intrusive, they're obnoxious, and it's time to do something about them. The use of gas-powered left blowers in residential areas of Los Gatos needs to be banned.
Councilman Steve Glickman suggested a ban at one point during his council tenure but received little support from his Los Gatos Town Council colleagues at the time.
Now, though, there's precedent for just such a ban. At its June 13 meeting, "the Palo Alto City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of a particular type of leaf blower in residential zones of the city," according to the city of Palo Alto website. Specifically, the council is referring to gas-powered leaf blowers.
Electric leaf blowers may still be used in the city, but the council even put limits on their use. In Palo Alto, electric blowers may only be used on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They are not allowed at all on Sundays.
Palo Alto's ordinance, which becomes effective on July 1, seems to be a good model for other communities to follow. We believe that Los Gatos should be among the first of the communities to follow Palo Alto's lead.
Pollution aside (the blowers spit burned fuel and stir up clouds of dust into the air we breathe), it's noise pollution that's the biggest concern when it comes to the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.
It's amazing that for years and years we were able to pick up our leaves, grass clippings and yard refuse without assaulting our neighbors' eardrums and disturbing the otherwise calm residential areas of the town. But in recent years such gardening chores cannot be completed without the loud roar of the leaf blower.
It's time to quiet those roaring machines once and for all. Palo Alto has done it, and Los Gatos should follow suit. But it will take the action of the town council to make it happen.
We encourage Councilman Glickman to revisit the issue at an upcoming meeting and hope that the current council will strongly consider his proposal. What's more, community members need to contact the members of the council to voice their opinions on the subject.
In Palo Alto, residents can soon be confident that they can enjoy the serenity of a spring morning on their patios without the intrusion of a roaring leaf blowers. Los Gatos residents should be able to expect just the same.
