Email from Susan Low regarding Ending Leafblower Use
Correspondence requesting a ban on leaf-blowers due to noise, wildlife disturbance, and health impacts.
From: Susan Low Sent: January 4, 2023 4:41 PM To: Mayor And Council Email mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca Subject: Please consider ending leafblower use in View Royal
Please consider ending leafblower use in View Royal
Dear Mayor and Council,
Congratulations on your recent elections/re-elections to Council and thank you for your service to this community.
I am writing to ask that Mayor and Council consider investigating what bylaws or other mechanisms could be used to limit and ultimately end the use of leaf-blowers in View Royal. There are several reasons why I believe this would be in the best interest of our community:
- The noise emitted by leaf-blowers is excessive and disturbing to the residents of View Royal, even if the use of leaf-blowers is reserved for daytime hours. Even before COVID-19, there were many residents who had shift-work schedules (e.g. at the hospital) which necessitated them sleeping during the daytime. Now these residents are joined in their desire for daytime quiet by residents who are working full-time from home, and find that leaf-blowers interrupt meetings and disturb their focus.
- The noise of leaf-blowers is disturbing to wildlife, including native species and insects such as bees, which are critical to having healthy gardens and parks.
- Leaf-blowers remove leaf litter, which is part of the important habitat for birds and insects during the winter months especially.
- The sound level and emissions of leaf-blowers are hazardous to the hearing and respiratory health of machine operators and others nearby.
Leaf-blowers are used instead of manual raking to maintain gardens, but tidy gardens could become barren gardens if the insects and birds that pollinate plants are driven away or eradicated. My observation of landscaping crews that use leaf-blowers is that there is frequently a lot of noise produced, with minimal or underwhelming results, and the benefits are short-lived considering our frequent ocean breezes. The impacts of these machines, however, are long-lasting.
The impacts of leaf-blowers are felt by neighbours and visitors to View Royal, not just the property owners who use them (or hire gardening crews who use them). As such, a community-wide regulation would be beneficial.
Thank you for considering this issue.
Susan Low 904 - 288 Eltham Road View Royal, BC