The Village of Port Washington North is considering regulating the use of leaf blowers within its limits and voted to hold a public hearing on the matter at their next meeting
“Since the pandemic started, many of us have been working from home, kids have been not going to camp or school,” Weitzner said. “A lot of people in the community in the neighborhood to shelter in place. The fact remains that there are definitely more people on a regular basis in our village.”
The village’s current code states that the outdoor operation of power equipment used for home construction or repair and grounds improvement and maintenance, including leaf blowers, are only allowed in use between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., on Mondays through Fridays, and 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
Weitzner said the village was examining the Town of North Hempstead’s regulations, passed in January, which prohibit commercial landscapers from using gas-powered leaf blowers from June 15 to Sept. 15, with commercial landscaping is permitted from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. The regulations apply to the town’s unincorporated areas, rather than the villages.
“We do have a number of people that are upset at the kind of noise that these gas blowers they’re not talking about weed whackers or lawnmowers, it’s specifically gas blowers at this point,” Weitzner said. “A number of people, a few people have come to me saying, How can we not enforcing the law these people shouldn’t be doing this.”
The mayor and the board voted to hold a public hearing on the matter at their next meeting, which is scheduled to take place Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. A limited number of seats will be available in-person at Port North Village Hall, with Zoom information to watch online not yet available.
