Council Dark for Three Weeks; Cannabis, Leaf Blowers Loom

The City Council is dark for the next three weeks, scheduled to return on Sept. 13.

Following are two issues up for council consideration when it returns to work.

The City Council must conduct two readings of the amended cannabis ordinance, which when formally approved will close distance requirements between dispensaries and allow more than one dispensary in each of the city’s seven council districts.

The council was scheduled to conduct the first reading of the amended ordinance on Monday but tabled the matter.

Councilmembers John Kennedy, Gene Masuda and Felicia Williams opposed the amendments.  

The City Council is also expected to deliberate the use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers.

Besides being a noisy nuisance, gas-powered leaf blowers generate high levels of carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and hydrocarbons. Councilmember Felicia Williams requested the item be considered by the full council. 

“There has been a push on the council to review this because it is not only a public health, noise, and quality of life issue, it’s also a sustainability issue,” Williams told Pasadena Now.

“Removing leaves from yards is not only unnecessary, but it also disrupts the natural fertilization process. So, I see this as a chance to change our behavior to more natural gardening that has less impact on humans and the environment,” she said.

According to the Napa Valley Register, an Edmunds Report found that a gas-powered leaf blower emitted 23 times more carbon monoxide and 300 times more hydrocarbons than a 2011 Ford Raptor high-performance pickup.

On Wednesday, the South Pasadena City Council conducted the first reading of an ordinance that bans leaf blowers. 

Pasadena’s Environmental Advisory Commission took up the issue in October to  “create a package of information” for the City Council’s Public Safety Committee to consider at an upcoming meeting, according to a Pasadena Now story at the time.

The Public Safety Committee was to use that information to make recommendations to the City Council, including banning the devices or considering alternatives. However, the issue was never discussed by that committee.

According to the city’s current ordinance regulating leaf blowers: 

• It is unlawful for any person to use or to operate, or cause to be operated any type of leaf-blowing machine or device within a residential area before 8 a.m. and after 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m.on Saturday; or at any time on Sunday.
• It is unlawful for any person to use or allow to be used or to operate or cause to be used or operated any type of leaf-blowing machine or device in the city within a radius of 500 feet of a residential area before 8 a.m. and after 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. Saturday; or at any time on Sunday. 
• It is unlawful for any person to use or operate, or cause to be used or operated, a leaf blower in such a manner as to blow, dispel or make airborne leaves, grass cuttings, paper, trash, or any other type of unattached debris or material, which, by use of the leaf blower, will intentionally cause such leaves, grass cuttings, paper, trash or any other type of unattached debris or material to become airborne or travel beyond the property boundaries of the parcel on which it is being used, to adjoining properties or public rights-of-way within the city, and to remain therefore more than 15 minutes.