Los Altos city officials indicated their “carrot” approach to gas-powered leaf blower enforcement is making a difference. But residents concerned about their continuous use – despite a 34-year-old ban – indicated it’s time to begin using a “stick.”
An informational item presented to the Los Altos City Council May 13 indicated enforcement of the loud, air-polluting machines has been effective since an amended leaf blower ordinance in 2023 and the hiring of a code enforcement officer through the city’s Development Services department.
Assistant City Manager Nick Zornes offered numbers that showed a significant hike in cases filed since his department took over code enforcement.
From January 2020 to April 2023, a code enforcement officer through the Los Altos Police Department opened 44 new leaf blower cases and issued 30 citations. The number jumped to 702 new cases from April 2023 to December 2023 with the hiring of a new code enforcement officer. The officer issued 18 citations during that period.
In 2024, the officer opened another 480 cases, with three citations issued.
So far in 2025, the officer opened 90 new cases and issued no citations. Zornes noted an “education first” approach to enforcement.
By contrast, Zornes collected numbers from Palo Alto that showed a total complaint volume of 1,437 cases in 2024. Of those, the city issued 523 “warnings,” and issued four citations.
Los Altos first prohibited gas-powered leaf blower use in 1991. The 2023 amended leaf blower ordinance shifts responsibility from gardeners to homeowners. Residents hiring those gardeners now face fines for repeated offenses. First offense is a written warning, followed by $100, $200 and $500 fines for the second, third and fourth violations.
Explaining the difference between large numbers of cases and few citations, Zornes noted in his report that the code enforcement officer must catch the gardener in the act of using a gas-powered leaf blower to issue a citation.
“No photographs or video evidence of the use of a gas-powered leaf blower can substitute this requirement,” Zornes said.
But Linda Ziff, with GreenTown Los Altos Clean Air advocates, said the city is “regressing,” with the number of monthly cases down from 100 at peak to about 40 now.
“Some of the landscape workers who had switched to electric are now back to using gas – three on my street alone,” Ziff told the council last week. “Landscape workers and residents have learned that the ordinance is not enforced. No citations. No consequences. After 34 years of a gas leaf blower ban, hundreds of GreenTown handouts from dozens of volunteers and hundreds of warning letters from the city, we know that education here is not sufficient.”
Ziff referred to the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, in which elimination of fossil fuel landscape equipment is designated as a “No. 1 priority.”
“No actions have been taken,” Ziff said. “We can change this now by issuing citations. Residents have done their part by reporting and giving Code Enforcement a road map of address, time and day of violations. With gas leaf blower complaints comprising 86% of all complaints Code Enforcement receives, it deserves to be addressed. … What we need are tickets, tickets, tickets.”
Bruce McFarlane, who has been closely monitoring gas-powered leaf blower use in Los Altos, said the city issued two citations over the past 12 months.
In a recent email to City Manager Gabriel Engeland. McFarlane said, “(Gas leaf blower) violations remain pervasive because, with so few citations being issued, gardeners (and homeowners) know there is no risk of being cited and, hence, they see no reason to comply with the law.”
Elaine Haight thinks the change from fining gardeners to homeowners made things worse.
“I tell the gardener that what they are doing is against the law,” she said. “They don’t believe me, they say that everybody does it. So I knock on the door and tell the homeowner that gas leaf blowers are against the law and they can be fined, and the homeowner says that the city told them they would not have to pay a fine. I dutifully reported every violation I witnessed, but nothing changed. … I don’t see the point of having a city council if it can’t enforce the laws that it makes.”
Zornes noted, “The Code Enforcement officer has reported that they have noticed multiple prior violators utilizing electric leaf blowers after receiving a written warning. The Code Enforcement officer has acknowledged that the education first approach is not a perfect process and often repeat offenses do occur, but progress has been made.”
