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Lafayette Environmental Task Force outlines 2024 accomplishments, seeks funding and enforcement guidance for leaf blower ordinance
Summary
The Lafayette Environmental Task Force reported on 2024 work — including an electric leaf-blower lending program, bilingual outreach, partnerships with local vendors, and early planning on single-use foodware rules — and asked council for budget and code-enforcement guidance for violations at multi-unit properties.
The Lafayette Environmental Task Force (ETF) presented its 2024 accomplishments and 2025 priorities at the April 28 council meeting, highlighting community outreach on an electric leaf-blower ordinance, a planned lending program, and early work on a foodware (single-use plastics) proposal.
ETF co-chair Maria Gastelumendi and members described a year of outreach: a bilingual brochure mailed citywide, distribution at community events, short promotional videos hosted on the city’s online services, and 50 garden signs placed across the city to raise awareness of the leaf-blower ordinance. Gastelumendi said the ETF bought a portable induction cooktop and partnered with a local retailer, Cresco, which offered a 20% discount during the pilot period for commercial backpack electric blowers and rentals to let residents try the equipment.
“Education is very important,” Gastelumendi said, and the ETF asked the council for continued help promoting the ordinance, including four marquee postings per year on the Safeway sign and support during the city’s budget process for outreach funding.
The ETF reported data from related programs: 443 households had signed up for the Cleaner Contra Costa challenge in 2024 (up from 2023), and the city’s construction-and-demolition (C&D) diversion rate increased from about 80% to 86% in 2024, ETF members said.
ETF members asked for clearer code-enforcement guidance to address repeat violations at apartment complexes and business properties where absentee owners or property managers are not local and workers use gasoline blowers. Co-chair Gastelumendi said the current ordinance applies to property owners or managers, not individual workers, making enforcement “difficult to handle.” The group requested staff direction on how to notify and enforce against nonlocal owners.
On foodware, ETF members reported reviving a pre-pandemic draft ordinance that would encourage reusables for dine-in, consider a possible 25¢ fee for single-use to-go cups, and require compostable or recyclable materials for takeout where feasible. ETF members said they are tracking state efforts (including SB 54 and other statewide discussions), participating in a regional working group, and planning a business outreach survey before any ordinance would be drafted for council review.
Why it matters: The ETF’s work touches municipal enforcement, local businesses and household behavior, and may require funding for outreach and compliance. The proposed initiatives could affect restaurants, property managers, landscapers, and residents.
Council response: Councilmembers thanked the ETF and noted the item will be considered during the upcoming budget process. Staff and council asked ETF members to work with the city’s code-enforcement staff and to return with concrete budget requests and an enforcement plan.
