Lower Merion’s gas-powered leaf blower ban has led to 437 complaints and put ‘tremendous stress’ on staff, officials say
The township's department of building and planning is requesting upgrading a part-time administrative clerk to full-time and adding a seasonal code compliance officer to meet rising demands.
A gas-powered leaf blower ban in Lower Merion has put “tremendous stress” on township staff, as hundreds of complaints have piled up since its implementation this summer, officials said at a Sept. 9 meeting.
Officials from Lower Merion’s department of building and planning told commissioners at a recent budget meeting that enforcement of the ban has strained resources as staff are pulled away from other work to address a growing collection of complaints. The department is asking to promote one part-time staff member to full-time and hire a seasonal code compliance officer to meet the increased demand.
“There’s a significant amount of administrative time required to enforce the ordinance, and it’s just beyond our existing capabilities to do this,” Chris Leswing, Lower Merion’s director of building and planning, told commissioners.
Leswing said investigating potential violations has pushed back other projects, requiring the department to pay increased overtime so staff can address their day-to-day responsibilities.
Lower Merion received 437 complaints of leaf blower violations and issued 49 fines from June 1 to Sept. 9, according to Ernest Pendleton, assistant director of building and planning.
In that same time frame, the department received 80 reports of all other standard property maintenance violations, including trash, debris, noise, lighting, high weeds, and grass issues.
The proposed upgrade of the administrative clerk to full-time next year would add $48,000 to next year’s budget, and hiring a seasonal code compliance officer for 22 weeks of the year would add $35,000.
Lower Merion commissioners passed the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers last fall, a move proponents said would help safeguard the environment and protect residents against harmful air and noise pollution.
The ordinance phased out gas-powered leaf blowers on a seasonal basis, starting with a ban from June 1 to Oct. 1 this year, with an eventual all-out ban beginning in 2029.
Enforcement is complaint-based. Residents are encouraged to report violations via Lower Merion’s LM Report-It app, email, or phone. Violators first receive a warning, then a $100 fine for a first offense, $250 for a second offense, and $600 for a third or subsequent offense.
Enforcing the leaf blower ban presents a specific set of issues for staff, Pendleton said. Only around one-third of leaf blower complaints include enough evidence to be verified, meaning for the majority of infractions, a township staff member must conduct an independent investigation before deciding whether to fine a property owner. Investigations often include reviewing photos and videos and driving to the site of the violation. Complaints are doubly difficult to investigate as the department’s inspectors are often “scheduled out,” meaning no one is available to look into tips as they are being called in, according to Pendleton.
“We don’t have any inspector sitting inside our building to run out to a site,” Pendleton said.
Commissioners at the meeting said residents have reported feeling uncomfortable with the complaint-based system.
“They’re feeling as though they’re being asked to report on one another in the absence of another type of system,” said Commissioner Chris McGuire, who said she is getting reports that “neighbors are quibbling because one has reported the other.”
Pendleton said hiring a seasonal code compliance officer would help alleviate the fact that “neighbors aren’t liking to have to tell on neighbors,” though he noted that all of Lower Merion’s standard property maintenance complaints, with the exception of building codes, come in through resident reporting.
“We don’t send anyone out to look for problems,” Pendleton said.
Both commissioners and staff said they expect leaf blower complaints to drop in the coming years as residents and landscapers continue to transition to electric equipment. Pendleton said adding a seasonal officer would allow the township to have flexibility to shed the position should complaints drop off.
Some commissioners seemed poised to fulfill the building and planning department’s staffing requests, but no formal votes were taken at the meeting.
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