CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Leaf Blowers Issue About To Blow Up

Corona del Mar resident Stephanie Hager works from home. Well, she tries to, anyway.

“Leaf blowers,” she said. “You hear them six days a week. It’s a certain pitch that cuts through everything and ruins your concentration. It really ruins the quality of life in Corona del Mar.”

The question of whether Newport Beach should regulate or even ban leaf blowers is on the agenda for a meeting tonight of the Environmental Quality Affairs Committee, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Newport Beach Police Department’s auditorium.

The topic, said City Councilwoman Nancy Gardner, is a hot one. “I get complaints all the time,” she said. Many residents would like to see an outright ban on leaf blowers in residential areas. But some, including landscapers, think that would hurt gardeners’ businesses. The Corona del Mar Residents Association board has urged members to participate in a trade-in program, where old-style blowers can be exchanged for new, low-noise, low-polluting blowers at half the cost of the new blower.

Hager said the new blowers still are too loud, and that gardeners don’t save time by using a blower over a rake and a broom.

“It’s bad for us and our community,” she said. “People hate these blowers.”

Earlier this month, Hager sat listening to the leaf blowing din invading her home and decided it was time to act. She began to research the issue, discovering that leaf blowers contribute to both noise and air pollution. She began circulating a petition to ban leaf blowers in Newport Beach and quickly gathered more than 50 signatures.

“When I researched it, I was like, ‘Oh my God…’ ” she said. The leaf blowers not only blow leaves from one place to the next, but they pick up particles of dog waste and pesticides that people inhale once they are airborne.

She plans to attend the meeting tonight. The issue also could come before the City Council in October.

“I can’t wait to get leaf blowers banned,” she said. “People really need to make their voices heard.”