Maplewood's decision to ban landscapers' leaf blowers is mind numbing

This story is from Maplewood is a great example of your typical over-involved politicos.

Instead of pushing back on a handful of complaining neighbors in a 1% neighborhood who want the landscaper to clean the yard but don't want to deal with the noise, they should ignore it. As long as the noise level isn't overwhelming - and it shouldn't be - as gas powered leaf blowers are reported to be much quieter now. The challenge with electric blowers is that they are not as powerful as gas blowers so the job time may be dramatically extended.

The other potentially major issue is that the cords may not be long enough to hit the areas at the end of long driveways or bigger yards. Enter the much louder gas powered generator! Can't wait to see landscapers turning to wither running their trucks, loud and smelly and/or the generator to plug in the electric generator. Not only that, but comparing three popular brands at big box stores, the gas powered handheld is actually quieter than the cord operated electric and the battery operated.

Let's leave the small business landscapers out of do-gooder local laws that will not only have zero positive impact on the environment...remember that the gas mowers are using more gas, and can be louder and smellier!

Maplewood’s decision to ban landscapers’ leaf blowers is mind numbing