Dear Councilmembers,
I remember quiet, when gardeners used rakes in their landscaping work. No leaf blowers existed to crack into the birdsong or rustling leaves or to disturb one’s sleep. I remember when I could sit in my side or back yard and not be bothered by fumes. One learns to accept the stresses in life like loud and smelly leaf blowers, but the stressors add up and do affect health. I love to open my windows to enjoy the air but I find more dust in my home after a landscaper's visit to a neighbor. I know those with breathing difficulties are particularly impacted by the particulates stirred up by the blowers. How wonderful it would be if there were no loud leaf blowers to noise or air pollute. It would be wonderful, absolutely wonderful to ban all leaf blowers. This would not put gardeners out of business. Rakes continue to exist. Short of banning all leaf blowers a ban on gas powered blowers would be a significant step forward. I urge you to support the leaf blower ban effort to improve the quality of Menlo Park life.
Thank you.
Dorothy Conroy
