Town Meeting Rejects Leaf Blower Ban

Voters at Town Meeting this week had little problem spending money on things like repairing the Abbot Hall clock tower, but they saw little reason to change the rules governing leaf blowers, flowers at the cemetery or how far playground equipment should be from backyard fences.

Rita March sponsored the last article the Town Meeting members considered Monday night. It proposed that the town ban the use of gasoline-powered and electricity-powered leaf blowers during the year, except in April, May, October and November.

March maintained that the leaf blowers cause serious public health risk with heightened air pollution and noise pollution.

Several landscapers, including one man who carried a leaf blower as a prop, spoke against the proposed ban, saying if they are required to sweep up all the leaves and grass clippings, it will take longer and cost more money.

Michelle B. Gottlieb, a member of the Board of Health, supported the ban, saying she had read medical research that suggests leaves and dirt may cause respiratory problems.

But fellow board member Dr. Todd Belf-Becker said the Board of Health had reviewed the scientific data and had not taken a position because the conclusions were not strong enough. 

People who work at home said they found the loud leaf blowers distracting.

Interestingly, neighboring Swampscott narrowly passed a seasonal ban on leaf blowers at its town meeting this week.

Selectmen Ask for Town to be Exempted

To the amusement of most Town Meeting members, the Board of Selectmen offered an amendment that would have exempted the town departments from being restricted by the ban.

Both the Selectmen's amendment and the measure went down to defeat.

Catherine M. Kobialka, the cemetery superintendent, tried to get the Town Meeting to formalize in the bylaws practices and restrictions that the town already enforces. 

The proposed changes seemed mostly to confuse people. Several spoke against the measure, saying they did not want to be banned from putting flowers and wreaths on gravesites.

Kobialka assured the members that they could continue to place their wreaths. The rules would prohibit people from planting flowers on grave sites.

The measure was postponed indefinitely.

Backyard Play Structures

Farida Peters-Abbaddi proposed unsuccessfully to change the rules governing the placement of large swing sets and children's play structures.

Because many of these structures have roofs, the town planning and zoning boards treat them as buildings and require that they be more than 15 feet from property lines. 

Abbaddi said there are hundreds of families in town who have the play structures in their small backyards. Many of them violate the town's rules.

She has taken the issue of the placement of her own play structure to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which rejected her argument for a special permit.

The Planning Board Chairman Phil Helmes announced that his board had also declined to change the rules. but he promised that the planning and zoning boards would try to find an easier way for homeowners to apply for a special permit for the play structures without the current costs.

The Town Meeting members voted overwhelmingly to postpone indefinitely changing the rules governing play structures.