Those seeking to overturn New Canaan’s recently adopted summertime ban on gas-powered leaf blowers last week submitted petitions to the town with more than 1,000 total signatures calling for a referendum vote on the measure, officials say.
“We now begin the lengthy process of checking the validity of the signatures,” Town Clerk Claudia Weber said.
In all, 701 qualifying signatures are required in order to move the referendum process forward, Weber has said.
If the Town Clerk’s office is able to verify those signatures, the Town Council will have 30 days from the date of the filing of the petition—June 26—in which to set the date and hold the referendum. The number of votes required to overrule the Town Council’s action must be the majority of votes and must be equal to, or at least, 15% of the electorate as of the last completed voters’ list.
Under the Town Council’s ordinance, gas-powered leaf blowers would be banned from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Exemptions include using gas-powered leaf blowers for emergency and safety purposes, for storm clean-up, by the New Canaan Department of Public Works and “use by residents on hard or man-made surfaces.”
Violation of the ordinance will result in a warning on first offense, $100 fine on second offense and fine of at least $250 after that, under the language developed over several months by the Town Council’s Bylaws and Ordinance Committee.
The town began to consider a possible ban or restrictions on gas-powered leaf blowers at least four years ago, and the issue returned with force last summer. Those in favor have argued for more quiet in the summer and cited environmental and public health benefits of reducing the use of noisy gas-powered leaf blowers. Skeptics of a ban have raised questions about unintended financial consequences, including higher costs for landscaping companies that will be passed along to taxpaying residents, as well as compliance, enforcement and shortcomings of electric leaf blowers.