West Orange Leaf Blower Ban Derailed; Council Fails To Overturn Veto

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange’s leaf blower ban will remain off the books after a split vote from the township council on Tuesday evening.

Earlier this month, the town council voted in favor of an ordinance regulating gas-powered leaf blowers. The “seasonal” ban would have become permanent at the end of the year. Read More: West Orange Bans Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

Mayor Susan McCartney announced that she was vetoing the law on Friday. Read More: West Orange Mayor Vetoes Leaf Blower Ban

According to the Faulkner Act, a mayoral veto can be overridden by a “supermajority” vote of two-thirds of the council, or four votes in West Orange's case. It was a possibility that came up at the tail end of Tuesday’s five-hour council meeting.

The council voted 3-2 against the mayor’s decision, failing to gain the supermajority needed to overturn McCartney’s veto and keep the ban on the books.

Council members Asmeret Ghebremicael, Joyce Rudin and Joe Krakoviak voted in favor of overriding the mayor’s veto, while Michelle Casalino and Susan Scarpa voted against it.

Scarpa said local residents should get a chance to vote on the ban via a referendum in an upcoming election.

The councilwoman said that several people who work in the West Orange Public School District have criticized the ban because it would cause a burden for an already cash-strapped school system – which will likely face staff layoffs due to a budget crunch. See Related: Staff Cuts, Tax Hike Possible In West Orange School Budget

“These gas-powered blowers are dangerous to our health and I want to see them gone, but it is a matter of fundamental fairness,” Scarpa said. “We need to balance the needs of all our residents.”

“I’m going to commend the mayor for this veto because it’s problematic,” Casalino said, also pointing to the budget struggles that the local school district is facing this year.

Other council members disagreed.

Joyce Rudin said that the transition to electric blowers “is not a tough choice.”

“Spending money that is within our budget to improve our quality of life and to protect public health is not the same as going into further debt with bonded projects,” the councilwoman said at Tuesday’s meeting.

Rudin told Patch that supporters of the ban will keep pushing for change.

“Other communities throughout the country were looking to West Orange to show leadership and usher in a major quality of life improvement,” she said. “We could have looked forward to quieter springs, summers and falls, free of the toxic gas-spewing noisy gas-powered leaf blowers.”

“Make no mistake this change is coming,” Rudin added. “Obstructionists can only win so long. Our residents know we can do better, and we will.”

There are many West Orange residents who feel that a ban is needed, Ghebremicael previously said.

“I can tell you that we’ve had more emails from residents that are for this ban than there are who are against it,” Ghebremicael attested at the March 11 council meeting.

Watch footage from the council’s March 25 meeting below (video is cued to the vote on the mayoral veto).

LEAF BLOWERS IN WEST ORANGE

The ban would have regulated the use of gas-powered leaf blowers – except for turbine blowers – on residential, commercial and township-owned properties:

• Gas-powered leaf blowers would have been allowed from March 1 to April 15, 2025, and from November 1 to Dec. 31, 2025
• Effective Jan. 1, 2026, the use of gas-powered blowers would have been prohibited throughout the township
• The hours of operation for all leaf blowers would have been limited to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends

Violators of the ban would have gotten a written warning for the first violation (both the homeowner and landscaping company). A second violation comes with a $200 fine, and a third violation carries a $500 fine. After three violations by the same landscaping company, that company would be suspended from working in West Orange for one year.

Why was the ban rolled out? According to the ordinance:

“Science has shown that the noise, particulate matter, gas and oil fuel mixture being released unburned, and the fumes from burnt fuel are hazardous to the health of the workers, residents, particularly seniors and children and those with respiratory conditions, causing hearing loss and potential cancers, hypertension, cardiac disease, and increased stress levels. The practice of blowing leaves and other debris for property maintenance has unintended environmental and health consequences that disrupt and destroy animal, bird, insect and pollinator habitat, including adversely impacting the respiratory health of our pets. The township wishes to continue to strengthen its commitment to public health and wellness and environmental sustainability and believes that the proposed amendments will help achieve greater equity and public health as well as quality of life. Commercial-grade battery-powered leaf blowers have become more readily available. The township believes that the passage of this ordinance will more clearly reflect the needs and values of the West Orange community.”

“It is time for West Orange to slowly transition from gas-powered blowers to electric-powered blowers,” local advocacy group Our Green West Orange asserted earlier this month.

A transition date of January 2026 would give everyone “plenty of time to adjust,” the group claimed.

“Just as burning coal will soon be a thing of the past, so will the unscientific, dangerous and time-wasting practice of blowing leaves,” advocates said.

Other people have spoken against the ban, arguing that it will too costly for lawn care businesses and electric blowers aren’t yet up to the task of replacing their gas-powered counterparts.

“We are not enemy number one,” a landscaper told the council during public comment at a previous meeting. “We’re here to provide a service to the community and that’s what we’re trying to do efficiently and as fast as we can – because time means money.”

In her veto statement, the mayor said that enforcement of the law would be difficult because it requires a time-stamped photo of the alleged violation, and the person who took the photo would have to agree to testify in court.

McCartney also argued that the technology is not in place, and that the law will put a disproportionate burden on seniors and the local business community.

The whole saga may come with a bit of déjà vu for some West Orange residents. The town council passed a similar ban last year – but it was eventually vetoed by McCartney. See Related: West Orange Mayor Vetoes Leaf Blower Ban (Here’s Why)

Other towns in Essex County that have rolled out bans on leaf blowers include Maplewood and Montclair. Both have faced lawsuits from local landscapers.

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