New Canaan committee debates summer ban on gas-powered leaf blowers; split over hours, exemptions and enforcement

The New Canaan Town Council bylaws and ordinances committee on Thursday reviewed a draft ordinance that would prohibit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers during the summer season — defined in the draft as Memorial Day through Labor Day — while allowing limited use of electric blowers during set hours.

Chair Hillary Ormond, who introduced the draft, told the committee the proposal "would restrict the use of gas powered leaf blowers during the summer months" and that the group had circulated an edited draft for committee review. The draft reads broadly: it would bar gas-powered blowers in the summer unless a listed exemption applies and would permit electric blowers only during weekday hours and limited weekend hours.

The ordinance includes exemptions for emergency or safety uses, storm cleanup and snow removal, operations by the town’s Department of Public Works and public utilities to clear debris affecting essential services, and a narrow single-use residential exception to allow brief clearing of hard surfaces such as porches or driveways.

Public comment at the meeting emphasized local support for action. Resident Lars Anderson said he had spoken with many residents and observed "there's a lot of positive movement, towards some sort of restriction or ban" and urged the committee to move forward.

Committee members split on the scope and mechanics. Some favored the draft's approach — which Ormond described as a compromise aimed at limiting commercial, multiple-blower use that creates sustained noise and emissions — while others urged a stepwise, hour-based restriction focused on gas-powered equipment only. One member suggested striking language that would ban gas blowers entirely during the summer and instead applying the proposed time limits to gas equipment while leaving electric blowers unrestricted.

Cost and compliance were recurring concerns. Several members warned that forcing landscapers to switch to electric equipment could raise costs for homeowners, while others noted presentations to the council on health and environmental effects of gas blowers and said the ordinance responds to those findings. The draft also references the town’s existing noise ordinance as the metric for sound-level enforcement.

Enforcement and penalties were discussed but not resolved. The draft assigns fines to property owners and contemplates a designated municipal officer to handle initial notices; the committee debated whether enforcement should fall to police, a blight/code enforcement officer, or another municipal employee and recommended a short education or grace period before issuing fines.

Members also debated outreach and framing. Section 5 of the draft would require a designated officer to provide public education about the ordinance; some members wanted specific language describing health harms from excessive gas-blower use, while others preferred more neutral outreach focused on alternatives and implementation details.

No formal vote was taken. The committee agreed to continue work, incorporate edits that had broad support (including clarifying exemptions and the single-use language), solicit specific suggested language from dissenting members, and schedule another meeting with public comment before sending a final draft to the full Town Council.

Next steps: the chair will check calendar availability and aim to hold a follow-up committee meeting in the coming weeks with public comment; if advanced, the ordinance would then go to the full Town Council for consideration.