Walnut Creek Ready To Ban Satan’s Whistles

While your local Mo-and-Blo crew has been blowing sticky wet leaves down the road, past your window and under your front door at runway sound levels for the past decade or so it appears Walnut Creek is ready to look at alternatives – after we get through the current Winter Leaf Drop, at least.

Local council members Tuesday advanced a move to ban the use of gas-powered blowers in the city – with some exceptions – while providing a sufficient educational window to get the word out about the advantages of transitioning to quieter, battery-powered gear.

If approved as expected after some minor language tweaks at a later hearing, the city could require homeowners and landscapers to make the shift by April 1, 2026 or face potential “enforcement” actions – which may mean a ticket but which has remained rather loosely defined.

The city’s Public Works department reported it has already made much of the transition, representatives informing the council at Tuesday’s hearing their workers are already using battery-powered equipment on city properties about 95 percent of the time. Public works officials acknowledged that in some scenarios, such as when the ground is especially wet, only gas-powered gear packs the essential “oomph” to peel a leaf off the pavement and blow it where needed, and that they use gas-powered devices in extreme cases and emergencies.

Acknowledging that the issue has sparked intense criticism from residents complaining of noise and noxious fumes for “several years” and that approximately 90 percent of the public responding to civic outreach appears solidly in favor of the ban, council members expressed concern about what enforcement would look like, how small landscaping companies could be helped with the cost of new equipment, and if relaxed standards could apply to larger property owners like condo associations and HOAs.

Private citizens speaking before the council and in favor of the ban admitted they had been blissfully unaware of the prevalent use of gas-powered blowers because they had previously “been at work,” noting current dawn-to-dusk usage only after retiring and spending more time at home.

When approved, Walnut Creek’s ordinance would prohibit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers by anyone in the City of Walnut Creek, including City staff and contractors working on City-owned property. Exemptions apply to use during emergency cases as approved by the City or other first responders.

Staffers cited established findings that gasoline-powered leaf blowers create air pollution and pose health risks to operators and individuals nearby. They also cite AB 1346, which was approved in 2021 and began in 2024, which prohibits the sale of new small off-road engines, including lawn equipment.

More than 100 California towns and cities have imposed restrictions or bans on leaf blowers, including Lafayette, Pleasanton, Piedmont, Emeryville, Novato and Oakland.

An attempt to impose a similar ban on blowers in Orinda by a local group called “Quiet Orinda” garnered national press attention but was rejected by the Orinda city council in 2010 – the council voting unanimously that the city’s existing noise ordinance, which restricts the hours of leaf blower use, was sufficient.