Nearly two years after instituting a partial ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, Lake Bluff is reviewing the policy once again with some calls for a complete ban.
Amid concerns about their noise and environmental effects, in March 2023 Lake Bluff placed a seasonal ban on gas-powered leaf blowers running from May 15 through September 30. Exceptions to the policy are allowed in large areas including public parks, school playgrounds, golf courses, and athletic fields.
When implementing the ban, the village board said the policy should be evaluated within two years. In December, the village’s Sustainability and Community Enhancement Ad Hoc Committee (SEC) recommended making the ban year-round.
However, village trustees did not appear to support a complete prohibition during a discussion at a Jan. 13 Committee of the Whole meeting.
Village President Regis Charlot mentioned correspondence he received alluding to electricity-powered leaf blowers not having the same longevity as gasoline-powered ones.
“We’re not there from a technology standpoint,” Charlot added.
Trustee Katharine Hatch offered a similar sentiment. “I am comfortable with where we are now. I understand the environmental impact behind it but technology is not there yet,” she said. “When it is, I am comfortable to move forward.”
Yet some residents attending the meeting called for trustees to move toward the full ban.
“The evidence is overwhelming the health detriment that it poses to our residents,” noted Chris Klawitter.
However, Illinois Landscape Contractors Association Executive Director Scott Grams wrote that commercial versions of electric-powered blowers are not effective in spring and fall cleanup periods.
Moreover, he indicated the recent changes in Washington D.C. could affect the development of electric-powered devices.
“If the Trump administration chills vehicle and handheld electrification efforts, a slowdown in equipment manufacturing will make it even more expensive to transition,” Grams wrote.
Village officials also received a message from District 65 Superintendent Lisa Leali who requested the current exemption for the elementary school district should become permanent. Leali cited the short battery life of electric-powered devices, the cost of replacement batteries, and the need for frequent charging.
The trustees eventually decided to refer the matter back to the SEC with a directive evaluating changing the windows of time the gas-powered devices can be used and adjusting any enforcement policies.
Last year the village issued five citations and 15 verbal warnings for the use of gas-powered blowers at unauthorized times, according to village documents.
Assistant to the Village Administrator Clara Gable said the SEC could discuss the issue as early as their Feb. 18 meeting.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
