Marblehead Gas Leaf Blower Summer Ban Backed, Property Owner Fines Added For Violators

MARBLEHEAD, MA — A move to repeal a ban on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers during the summer months was rejected, while mechanisms to enforce the ban were passed, as part of consecutive Marblehead annual town meeting warrant articles heard late Tuesday night.

The separate articles were both heard after the moderator's attempts to adjourn the meeting until Wednesday was rejected and reinforced a vote that passed last year after seven years of failed attempts to curtail the gas blowers.

(Also on Patch: Marblehead $2.5 Million Tax Override Wins Town Meeting Support)

Article 47 attempted to repeal the ban with sponsor Todd Norman arguing that the gas blowers provide landscapers a more efficient way of providing trimming, grass-cutting and cleaning services to customers in the summer while saving them expenses.

"It's all about getting the lawns done quickly and the blowers make that job easier," he said. "Battery and electric blowers are getting better but right now the technology is still not there to warrant an investment in products that are expensive and inferior.

"The infrastructure is not here yet for a battery workforce."

While the vote required a hand count, the repeal attempt failed.

That set the stage for Article 48, which was to create the enforcement mechanisms that made last summer's ban passage largely symbolic in the summer of 2023.

That proposal was to enforce the ban from Memorial Day to Labor Day, penalize the property owner — not the landscaper — for any violation and set it on a scale of a warning and cease operation for a first offense, followed by a $100 fine for a second offense and $200 fine for each ensuing offense (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a correction from an earlier published version of this story.).

Under the bylaw, Marblehead police and health department personnel could issue the citations, but only if they witness the infraction.

Sponsor Jeanie Stahl said the bylaw is a relatively modest ask of landscapers compared to other cities and towns across the state that have year-round bans, fines up to $2,000 and include suspending the violating landscaper's license to operate in that community.

"This is far more lenient," she said, "and this is a fair compromise for the landscapers."

That vote also needed a hand count, which was recorded at 246 in favor of the enforcement structure with 135 opposed.

That vote indicated that there were about half the town meeting members remaining from when the vote to approve the Proposition 2 1/2 override ballot initiative took place about an hour earlier in the four-hour second night of town meeting.

A third night of town meeting was to take place Wednesday night at 7 with only six warrant articles remaining on this year's agenda.

"A quorum of 300 registered voters is required to conduct the business of the town," Marblehead officials noted on Wednesday. "We would respectfully ask that all registered Marblehead voters make every effort to attend the final night to participate and contribute to this vital community conversation."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)