New sign campaign is latest salvo in battle against gas-powered leaf blowers

Eight years ago, the Palm Springs City Council voted to ban gas-powered leaf blowers in the city. The ordinance officially went into effect about six years ago, but you’d never know it if you live in some of the neighborhoods where residents are roused out of sleep by the noisy, smelly equipment.

The Palm Springs Sustainability Commission discussed the issue briefly at its March 18 meeting and considered different strategies to reduce the illegal gas-powered leaf blower use. One plan of action is installing neighborhood signage to clearly remind homeowners and landscapers of the rules.

The first batch of 23 signs is expected to be installed this month in the Sunrise Park neighborhood.

“We’re kind of like the test neighborhood, and we’ll see if there’s a noise reduction in gas-powered leaf blowers,” one of the commissioners who lives in the neighborhood said.

The commission is also considering other outreach methods including writing to local news outlets, placing educational materials at hardware stores, and incorporating information in homeowner association newsletters.

In the past, the commission has discussed the challenges with enforcing the leaf blower ban because enforcement is complaint-based. To open a case, code enforcement needs the leaf blower to have been witnessed directly or they need a clear photo that is identifiable.

To support landscapers in transitioning to electric leaf blowers, the city has offered education, ran advertisements, and offered up to $750 in reimbursement for new compliant leaf blowers or battery packs, but few landscapers have taken the city up on its reimbursement offer.

The commission hopes the signs’ visibility will discourage landscapers from using the banned equipment in the immediate vicinity. “You can imagine them looking at this and leaf blowing right around it, but it’ll challenge them, at least with the message,” a commissioner added.

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