Starting in May 2023, Outremont will in turn ban all gasoline-powered leaf blowers.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“This is one of the bylaws of which I am most proud,” said Laurent Desbois, mayor of the Outremont borough, in an interview.
It must be said that complaints rained on this subject at the town hall, and this, for years. Banning gas-powered leaf blowers was an election promise made by Mr. Desbois, elected in 2021 under the banner of Ensemble Montréal.
Only electric blowers will now be authorized and these will also be the only ones that municipal employees will be able to use from May 2023.
Outremont had already tried to ban these devices. The borough had justified its decision by the fact that the gas-powered device is particularly polluting.
In 2008, however, the settlement was successfully challenged in court. This time, he relies on the noise that these devices generate and Mayor Laurent Desbois is hopeful that he will resist any legal assault. Note that the by-law was adopted unanimously.
Noisy models
Jean Fréchette is one of the citizens who have particularly stepped up to the plate.
“If this settlement really materializes next spring, the mayor will have kept his word,” he said, adding that it is a step in the right direction.
Mr. Fréchette believes that the next battle should be to include in the regulations any device that exceeds an acceptable noise level, including electric blowers if they fall into this category.
Blowers or leaf vacuums equipped with a two-stroke engine are already prohibited in the borough of Ville-Marie, because, as the City reports, “they emit greenhouse gases (GHG) and are harmful for insects.
In Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a leaf blower or vacuum cleaner equipped with a two-stroke gasoline engine is prohibited at all times.
Moreover, the electric models, which are also noisy, but to a lesser extent, can only be used between 1er and October 31, Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“Do you know that a leaf blower can generate an average of 80 to 115 decibels? For example, can we read on the Montreal website, a measurement of 80 decibels is the equivalent of a high traffic street and 100 decibels to a jackhammer at 2 meters. »
The City points out that the leaf blower “causes a suspension of particles that can have health impacts. For example, aggravate the reactions of people with asthma”.