Blower Ban Worries Gardeners

Gardeners from Brentwood to North Hills winced Wednesday at mention of Los Angeles’ new ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, predicting that the measure will create more backbreaking work and lead to higher prices in a business where rivals already compete for one another’s customers.

“It’s time and it’s money that we’re going to lose,” said Jose Bernardo as he toiled over a yard in Northridge. “That’s going to be a terrible thing for all of us.”

Many gardeners said they expect to work longer hours, using brooms and rakes in place of powerful leaf blowers, which can clear large areas quickly but spew fumes and roar like a motorcycle.

But residents praised the new ordinance, which received tentative council approval Tuesday, saying it would rid their neighborhoods of an annoying racket that kicks up dust and removes nothing. And a couple of gardeners said the disappearance of the gas-powered blowers in the end might save them trouble and money.

Most gardeners interviewed Wednesday saw the ban as more troubling news in a job that struggles with cutthroat competition and a weak economy.

“More work, more time, more problems,” said Jacob Herrera, 33, as he mowed the lawn of a Brentwood estate just down the street from Mayor Richard Riordan’s home. “It’s gonna be more job for the same money.”

But Raul Munoz said he planned to pass along additional costs to his clients.

Munoz charges $85 per month for a once-a-week visit but said the price could jump to as much as $125. He says he has no choice: He must support his wife and five children, and finances are tight even on the $2,000 a month he now brings home.

“The owners don’t want to pay me more, but if I can’t use the blower, I’m going to charge more,” Munoz said as he and a helper labored over a Hancock Park yard. “Probably, I’ll lose some business.”

Others are far less willing to raise their fees for fear of losing steady customers.

In Chatsworth, the troubling situation over the ban left gardener Heung Kim wondering whether he has a future.

“If the City Council says don’t use the blower . . . I think no more gardening,” Kim said. “I think it causes a lot of problems.”

The new law would prohibit gas-powered blowers within 500 feet of a residence, in effect banishing the equipment from neighborhoods across the city.

The City Council approved the measure after homeowners and celebrities lobbied for it, saying the blowers create noise and health hazards.

The new law must return to the council for final approval in a month and is expected to take effect this summer. With it, Los Angeles joins a long list of cities--including Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and South Pasadena--that have enacted gas-powered blower bans in recent years.

Homeowners across Los Angeles savored the thought of quiet unbroken by the mechanical rattle of leaf blowers.

“They’re noisy, they’re environmentally bad [and] they smell,” said Jake Jacobson, out for a walk with his dog in Hancock Park.

Jacobson said he has always asked his gardener not to use a blower, adding, “They don’t pick up anything.”

Other homeowners said they won’t miss the loud rumbling that often keeps them from restful sleep.

“On Saturday you want to wake up late and they always wake you up,” said Elva Monge, whose gardener uses the machines at her home in Northridge.

Steve Granados, whose family has worked as gardeners and landscapers on the Westside for 30 years, said gardeners should blame themselves for bringing on the blower ban.

“A lot of these guys misuse them--at full throttle when they don’t need to, which causes a lot of dust and noise,” said Granados, as he and a crew pruned shrubs in Bel-Air. “I get annoyed.”

Some gardeners predicted that their fellow laborers will ignore the law because they have grown accustomed to the equipment. The city has not determined how it would enforce the ordinance. Others said that gardeners, many of whom are immigrants who speak limited English, would not be aware of the law. Several gardeners contacted Wednesday had no idea that the council had given preliminary approval to the ban.

And using electric blowers won’t work, they said, because they would need cords that would extend hundreds of feet. Battery-operated blowers quickly run out of power, they said.

Roy Imazu, a spokesman for the Southern California Gardeners Federation, said the organization is working to inform gardeners about the restrictions. He said the group is informing its members and placing ads in La Opinion, a Spanish-language newspaper. He expects most gardeners to obey the ban once they learn about it.

A few gardeners said they won’t miss the blowers. One laborer even managed to see a silver lining in the city’s decision to ban the equipment.

Angel Perez of Huntington Park said he will no longer have to spend $60 a month on gas. Instead, he will use his customers’ hoses to clean driveways, sidewalks and gutters.

“It’s good for me,” said Perez, as he tended a crisp green lawn in Bel-Air. “Now I can use water from the owner to hose down the walk.”

Perez was among those who pointed out another hidden plus in the passing of the law: He no longer will have to buy and maintain the expensive equipment.

Gas blowers cost up to $520 and require regular maintenance as well as money for gas. “I’m going to waste less money now,” Perez said.

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Staff writer Abigail Goldman contributed to this report.