Locals sound off on blowers

A sharp cry countered the roars of leaf blowers in Chapel Hill on Monday — one generated by a group of citizens opposed to use of the machines in residential areas.

The Chapel Hill Town Council made it clear that it has no authority to ban leaf blowers fully — as council member Cam Hill proposed at the council’s Sept. 27 meeting — at its public forum Monday.

But residents still complained about what petitioner Sarah McIntee referred to as “auditory assaults” on her neighborhood and others.

“I can’t have a 60-decibel rooster … but I can operate an 80-decibel leaf blower next to your home at 7 a.m.,” she said.

Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos said state law would override a local full-scale ban on the machines. But McIntee recommended that the town set a decibel level and time restriction for when blowers can be lawfully operated.

Don Stanford, adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, said the effects of leaf blowers could be harmful.

“I’m genuinely concerned about pressure being placed on our quality of life,” he said.

Hill also said the ordinance needs to be improved.

“I think studying (alternative restrictions) is worthwhile,” he said.

Ken Robinson of Williams Landscape Services Inc. defended his company’s use of the machinery.

“The reason we blow leaves is because people want us to,” he said.

“If you’re going to take care of someone’s property, you’re going to have to move some leaves.”

Robinson attempted to dispel several concerns raised at the forum.

“We require and insist that all our employees wear hearing protection,” he said. “And we have no problem regulating hours. We try to accommodate everyone.”

Robinson also said newer blowers are becoming quieter, as many as 15 decibels below the typical blower’s 80-decibel output.

But Robinson urged the council to be aware of the “dreaded unintended consequences” restrictions on leaf blowers could bring.

“There are people who cannot (move leaves) and have to pay someone to do the things they can’t,” he said.

Some raised fears that blowers harm the area’s environment.

UNC sophomore and Student Environmental Action Coalition member Jane Hudson said a student complained to her that a blower set off her home’s carbon monoxide detector for more than a minute.

UNC Director of Local Relations Linda Convissor said that although the University employs the use of several types of blowers, electric blowers can’t be used due to a shortage of power outlets and the danger of unguarded power cords.

Convissor said the University’s typical morning operation of the machinery doesn’t interfere with campus activity. “Our use of leaf blowers is remarkably different from residential areas,” she said.

The council referred all comments to Town Manager Cal Horton, who will draft a recommendation and present it to the council in the coming months.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.