Sonoma voters to weigh in on leaf blower issue

Voters will get a chance to settle the big leaf blower debate that has swirled around Sonoma for the past six years.

The Sonoma City Council voted unanimously Monday to ask voters on the Nov. 8 ballot whether to uphold a ban against gas-powered leaf blowers, or rescind it.

“You need to give this to the people. You’ve spent more than enough time on this issue and staff time,” said Sonoma resident Jack Wagner.

The City Council on a 3-2 vote in March decided to ban gas-powered leaf blowers, a move that made it the first in Sonoma County to enact such a restriction. It exempted electric and battery-powered blowers.

But opponents of the ban were able to collect 995 valid signatures to force a referendum on the issue, gathering well above the 639 valid signatures required, or 10 percent of registered voters.

There are about two dozen communities in the state that ban-gas powered leaf blowers including Berkeley, Mill Valley, Palo Alto and Belvedere in Northern California.

The bans target the noisy gas-powered blowers often identified by loud revving, as well as health concerns over the exhaust and debris they stir up that can trigger allergic and asthmatic reactions.

Sonoma resident Cecilia Ponicsan said Monday the clouds of dust and fumes from a leaf blower sent her to the emergency room with an asthma attack. She described it as “the terrible effect of gas leaf blowers,” and told the council the health of children, pets and neighbors is at stake.

But defenders of the devices said they are efficient and less time-consuming than raking, and banning them will put landscape employees out of work.

John Fanucchi, a Lovall Valley Road resident who helped circulate petitions to get voters to rescind the leaf blower ban, said the people who signed it are sending the council a silent message, that “government does not need to be controlling all the activity in their personal lives.”

Much of Monday’s council discussion was whether members should write and distribute a ballot argument in favor of upholding the ban. Council members appeared reluctant to, but agreed to resolve that question at the July 6 meeting.

City Councilwoman Rachel Hundley said the citizens’ group representing leaf blower opponents should write it. Councilman David Cook said he wanted to see Sonoma “come together, not being torn apart,” and for that reason did not want to have the council majority prepare a ballot argument.

Jerry Marino, a longtime Sonoma resident and organizer of the petition to overturn the ban, said the council should not put any of its opinions on the ballot, pro or con. “Let the people decide as you had only a 3-to-2 vote for the ban,” he stated in an email to the council.

The leaf blower debate has been a perennial topic in recent years.

In 2011, city leaders weighed a ban on leaf blowers, before imposing new restrictions on the devices, including prohibition of their use on Sundays and during all city observed holidays. The maximum noise level was also reduced from 90 decibels to 70.

But complaints persisted, including that there was little enforcement and landscapers routinely ignored the law.

A narrowly divided City Council introduced an ordinance in late 2013 to prohibit gas-powered blowers, before then-Mayor Ken Brown at a subsequent meeting reversed his vote, giving the leaf blowers a last-minute reprieve.

Last year, council members again mulled the possibility of a ban on both gas-powered and electric leaf blowers and whether to take the question to voters. A narrowly divided council in January declined to put the issue on the ballot.

In March, a divided council voted 3-2 to ban gas-powered leaf blowers, which was set to go into effect July 1, but it was suspended after confirmation there were sufficient voter signatures for a referendum.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@clarkmas