Irvine Lowers the Vroom on Loud Leaf Blowers

IRVINE — To control the battalion of 6,000 leaf blowers that maintains the spick-and-span landscape of this planned community, the City Council is spending $70,000 to enforce a law that restricts noise levels of the motorized gardening tools.

Earlier this year, Irvine became the second city in the nation, behind Pasadena, to require that the machines meet acceptable decibel standards and that mufflers and motors are in working order, officials said.

This week, the council voted to hire a part-time inspector who will staff an outdoor test station behind City Hall starting in June. The early testing will enable landscaping and gardening firms to meet noise requirements before the law takes effect Sept. 13, said Robert Storchheim, manager of the Building and Safety Department.

To win certification, leaf blower operators must take a course in using the machines. The certificates will cost $20 each and are renewable every two years. Residents who own blowers for private use are exempted from the law.

The city passed a law in February prohibiting blowers from operating within 10 feet of a residence, and limiting their use to between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Violators face misdemeanor charges, punishable by no more than a $1,000 fine or six months in jail.

“There is a minority of abusers who are obnoxious,” said Bob Baier, owner of an Irvine landscape maintenance firm and president of the California Landscape Contractors Assn. “They’ve got earplugs on and the motor cranked up full blast. I hate to see the regulations, but if we have to do it to protect the use of the tool, then I’m all for it.”

About 60 California cities have laws restricting hours that leaf blowers may be used, including Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Laguna Beach. Eight California cities have banned the machines.

The council authorized spending $4,500 on an instructional videotape and $5,000 to print 10,000 brochures in five languages. The brochures will be mailed to local landscaping and gardening services to notify them of the new law.