Petition Banning Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers Makes Progress In Morristown

MORRISTOWN, NJ — In Morristown, a councilman's fight to implement a seasonal ban on leaf blowers is making headway.

This summer, council member Stefan Armington launched a petition calling on Morristown to take a stand and take action on a contributor to local pollutants and resident headaches: gas-powered leaf blowers.

Since the petition began circulating, a total of 502 signatures from Morristown voters were certified by the Clerk’s office, meeting the requirement to get a potential referendum on the November ballot.

According to Armington, now that the signatures have been verified, the ordinance calling for a seasonal ban on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 will be on the agenda for the Aug. 8 Council meeting.

"The certified petition acts as a formal introduction, so the ordinance would be up for adoption on Aug. 8, and there will be a public hearing prior to the Council’s decision," Armington told Patch.

If the council does not approve the ordinance during the Aug. 8 council meeting, the same public question will be put to a vote during the November election.

The question is as follows:

"Shall the Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Reform Ordinance, duly submitted by petition to the Town of Morristown, which includes, among other provisions, (a) the prohibition on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers during the period of Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 of each year commencing on Jan. 1, 2024, be approved?"

"The Committee sees the referendum as a public vote on whether the town should enforce its noise ordinance during the day, granting citizens the right to live without excessive noise, which was adopted by unanimous consent of the Council in 2021. It’s clear to us that the Administration has not been enforcing the ordinance. At least not on the use of landscaping equipment," Armington said.

Morristown adopted the NJDEP's model noise ordinance in 2021, which establishes maximum allowable decibel levels during the day and night, ensuring residents' right to live in peace.

Although the ordinance was passed unanimously, the town has been unable or unwilling to educate the public about the noise ordinance or enforce the laws, Armington claims.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many professional workers began working from home, exacerbating the situation.

This is when Armington realized that daytime noise levels from landscaping equipment, particularly gas-powered leaf blowers, were a significant source of nuisance noise.

"Over the years, some people have complained about the noise to the town, but the administration has argued that it is almost impossible to enforce the noise ordinance, and lately they have confirmed that they do not enforce the noise ordinance on gas-powered blowers because they do not want to pit neighbors against neighbors," Armington said.

According to the councilman, there is already hostility between neighbors who use gas blowers or their weekly contractors and their neighbors who are forced to accept the disruption.