Landscaper Parking A Burr Ridge Problem: Mayor

BURR RIDGE, IL – With Burr Ridge's median household income at nearly $150,000, it's no surprise that many residents pay for professional landscaping services.

At a Village Board meeting this week, Mayor Gary Grasso said it's good that residents keep up their lawns.

But he said he was concerned about how landscapers park their vehicles. The vehicles, he said, appear to have gotten longer over the years.

"It seems to me every year that the traffic situations around landscaping vehicles in the village and everywhere else you drive seems to be more and more dangerous," the mayor said. "Their parking takes up large spaces on the street. None of them seems to want to pull into driveways."

He said he wanted to look into the issue and would welcome trustees' feedback.

Grasso's comments struck a chord with Trustee Russell Smith.

"On the way to this meeting, I had words with a landscaper over on Drew (Avenue)," Smith said. "They literally had the whole road blocked. They had their work truck one way and a vehicle the other way, and they expected me to somehow hop over the vehicle."

He continued, "I said, 'You know, it's funny. I'm heading toward the Village Hall right now, and I'll be glad to bring an officer out,' and they finally moved it. But it's nuts. It's unsafe."

Officials noted some suburbs are banning landscapers from using gas-powered leaf blowers, which are considered noisy.

Grasso said he knows about gas-powered leaf blowers being used about 7 a.m. on Sundays. Others said that wasn't allowed in the village.