Clarendon Hills Rejects Landscape Noise Proposal

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – The Clarendon Hills Village Board on Monday voted down a measure to adjust the hours for the use of landscaping equipment.

The measure would have exempted electrically powered equipment for the first time.

Now, noise from landscaping work falls under the general construction part of the village code. The hours for such noise are limited to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

The proposal on Monday was to follow Hinsdale's ordinance, which limits such noise to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Electrical equipment is exempted because it's much less noisy.

During a debate, Trustee John Weicher said the board was looking to change the code based on a single resident who emailed the village once or twice with complaints about the noise from gas-powered leaf blowers.

"It seems like a very reactionary, premature thing to change the code because we received an email or two from a resident," he said.

Trustee Steve Tuttle said he didn't think government should be involved in these kinds of changes.

But Trustee Mark Peterson said the village already was involved, noting the current regulations.

Tuttle then said he believed changing the rules could hurt businesses. He said they would lose an hour of work on weekdays.

The board voted 4-2 against changing the code. Tuttle, Weicher, Ralph DeAngelis and Meredith Lannert were opposed, while Peterson and Omar Chaudhry were in favor.