New Bedford’s Status as More Massachusetts Towns Ban Leaf Blowers

My disdain for raking leaves was one reason that selling my home of 25 years was such a joyous occasion. We lived across the street from a swamp with dozens of trees that couldn't wait until October each year to shed their leaves all over my front lawn.

I hate raking leaves, especially when they are wet, heavy and gross. Snakes, ticks and other nasty stuff live under dead leaves.

I wanted to follow the lead of the legendary New Bedford Mayor Charles Ashley, who allegedly said of snow (and I'm paraphrasing here), "The good Lord put it here, let the good Lord take it away."

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My wife wasn't down with that philosophy, so I raked leaves, but I carried them in barrels back across the street and dumped them in the swamp where they came from.

I don't know why I never considered buying a leaf blower.

Three towns on Martha's Vineyard – Oak Bluffs, Edgartown and Tisbury – recently voted to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers.

The Vineyard Gazette reported that "The bylaws are being proposed across the Island in an attempt to reduce noise and emissions."

"Under the new bylaws, landscapers and homeowners will have to stop using gas-powered leaf blowers by the spring of 2028, giving people time to switch over to electric-powered blowers or old-fashioned rakes," according to the paper.

City of New Bedford Public Information Officer Jonathan Darling said "There is no ordinance that specifically deals with leaf blowers or lawn mowers or any other landscaping equipment" in New Bedford.

"Chapter 17, Section 15 of the City Code, which deals with noise" provides "general guidelines" for such equipment, according to Darling.

"Generally, you can't be loud between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., or more specifically, you cannot 'menace the health, interrupt or disturb the sleep of residents' during that time," he said.