GREENWICH — The phones at the Greenwich Police Department have been ringing off the hook with people calling to complain about gasoline-powered leaf blowers in the past month, according to call logs.
The logs span May 25 to June 24, with an average of five calls per day to the department. Most of the calls came in the final days of May, immediately after the ban took effect, but GPD fielded multiple blower complaint calls on most days in June, too.
The calls came from all over town, from Riverside and Byram to the farthest reaches of the Backcountry. Cos Cob had the most calls at 34, followed by 32 in the Midcountry and 26 in Old Greenwich.
The call logs list where blowers were allegedly being used, but not where callers were calling from. GPD officers responded to all 162 calls, except a handful where callers were reporting usage after blowers had already left.
The Representative Town Meeting, the town’s legislative body, created the new leaf blower restrictions in January, after the Board of Health’s surprise repeal of the noise ordinance in December.
The rules state, in part, that gasoline-powered leaf blowers are prohibited in residential zones from 6 p.m. the Friday before Memorial Day through Sept. 30, except for properties of two acres or more, where the prohibition ends the day after Labor Day.
Several landscaping companies asked to get out of the blower ban, but those requests were denied by the Board of Selectmen on June 27. Town departments, however, were granted a one-year variance from the rules to ensure the town complies with its own laws.
No fines will be levied against people or companies using a gas-powered leaf blower, variance or not, until 2025.
Capt. John Slusarz, head of GPD’s Patrol Division, said that the leaf blower ordinance is still new, so the department does not have enough data to draw concrete conclusions about enforcement.
When asked about call volume, Slusarz said all calls for service are prioritized, including reported violations of the town’s noise ordinance.
“Calls for service where someone is in danger of being seriously injured or killed have higher priorities, along with violent crimes in progress,” he said in an email. “Also, medical calls have a high priority because as the designated First Responder for the Town of Greenwich, a police officer is dispatched along with an ambulance.”
Slusarz noted that of the 181 leaf blower calls the department got between May 25 and July 1, most of them were “unfounded,” meaning a responding officer did not find a violation.
Most of the calls were labelled unfounded, Slusarz said, because officers did not find anyone using the gas-powered leaf blowers when they arrived or people on scene were using another type of lawn care tool, like gas-powered hedge trimmers, which are allowed under the noise ordinance.
Slusarz said that the department issued 28 warnings about blower usage through July 1 and that officers had not encountered any repeat offenders.
First Selectman Fred Camillo said the growing pains with the new ordinance were expected, but he said most people are doing the right thing. He was, however, not happy with reports of harassment that some landscapers have said they are experiencing in town. “What has been disappointing is some of the people who have gone out and started screaming at landscapers, which is not only a horrible look for them, it stains the town when that type of behavior is exhibited,” he said.
Camillo said some people, especially the crews working, are not aware of the new blower rules, so it’s best to calmly approach them and let them know about the blower ban.
Forty five different officers responded to blower calls during the first month of the ban, according to the call logs, but Officer Richard Shaw responded to the most, answering 13 different leaf blower calls through June 24, followed by Albert Miano with 12.
