Here’s why Lexington banned gas-powered leaf blowers

The town of Lexington has voted to keep a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.

Residents of the town said the noise from the leaf blowers and their use of fossil fuels convinced them to ban the devices.

WCVB reported that Lexington’s Select Board had already voted to ban leaf blowers, and the ban passed with 85% of the vote during a Town Meeting in November.

Commercial landscapers opposed the ban, saying it would force them to buy new equipment, and hoped a public vote would overturn the decision.

But on Monday, the bylaw was voted on during a town election, and 55% of voters chose to keep it.

The ban will begin with a phase-out process where gas-powered leaf blowers are only allowed to be used during certain daylight hours of the fall and spring, WCVB reported. Those limitations begin this fall.

Use of gas-powered leaf blowers by commercial landscapers will be prohibited in Lexington beginning March 15, 2025, and prohibited for residents the year after, WickedLocal reported.

“It started because the noise has become intolerable. More than intolerable, it’s dangerous,” Dan Koretz, of Quiet Clean Lexington told WCVB. “It’s also important because it’s very very dirty machines.”

Lexington is not alone in its ire for leaf blowers. State legislators in California voted to ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers in December 2021 for environmental reasons, and Rhode Island’s legislature is currently considering an all-out ban on them. In Boston, the city council is considering a proposal to regulate blowers in the city.

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