Dallas City Council Leaves Door Open for Possible Moratorium on Gas Leaf Blowers

Gas-powered leaf blowers could take the fall for Dallas’ problems with loud noises.The City Council’s Quality of Life Committee on Monday discussed possible changes to the noise ordinance after council member Philip Kingston requested a briefing on a possible moratorium on the leaf blowers.The city already has rules that regulate the use of lawn equipment between 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. But Kingston said “there’s a host of environmental and public health reasons not to have these around” at all.Assistant City Manager Joey Zapata said other cities across the country are looking into similar restrictions. For example, in December, Washington D.C.’s city council amended its noise ordinance to ban gas-powered leaf blowers. Those restrictions go into effect in 2022.The blowers are also a symptom of a larger noise problem, council members said.City Hall hears several noise complaints each day on average. Over a three-year period from 2016 to 2018, Dallas residents reported an average of 1,345 noise complaints per year, Zapata said.  Continue reading...