Possible Leaf Blower Solution Offered

Trying to end a controversy that refuses to go away, Los Angeles officials Monday touted a battery-powered leaf blower prototype as a potential solution for gardeners who have struggled with the city’s ban on gasoline-powered blowers.

The electric device designed by AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia has yet to be field-tested, but Department of Water and Power officials say it could serve as a substitute for gardeners in need of power tools. Preliminary tests show that it runs with less noise than the banned internal combustion blowers.

Still, the prototype would have to overcome several obstacles before it could be sold on the open market. Engineers must determine whether the device meets state safety requirements, then secure a patent and manufacture the blower at a cost gardeners are willing to pay.

The introduction of the device comes as tensions are rising over the city ordinance, which forbids the use of gasoline-fueled leaf blowers within 500 feet of a residence. From the start, the battle over leaf blowers has pitted environmentalists and well-to-do homeowners in a uniquely Los Angeles conflict that has attracted national and even international attention--not to mention a hunger strike on the steps of City Hall. Since the ordinance was adopted, police say they have issued about 40 tickets for illegal use of gas-powered leaf blowers.

A member of the Assn. of Latin American Gardeners of Los Angeles who campaigned against the ban died in a car accident last week returning from a lobbying trip to Sacramento, and his colleagues angrily noted that he would not have been there if not for the city ordinance.

What’s more, city officials are waiting to see whether a bill by state Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles) would overturn the ban. With support from gardeners as well as the nation’s largest leaf-blower manufacturer and garden tool distributors, Polanco proposes to regulate the devices by establishing a maximum allowable decibel level.

Gardeners already have capitalized on a loophole in the ordinance by modifying their blowers to run on methanol, an alcohol derivative, rather than gasoline. But the gardeners’ group said it would support electric devices if they are proven to be as powerful as the outlawed gas models.

“If it’s going to be battery-powered, if it’s going to be solar-powered, we have no problem with that,” said Adrian Alvarez, president of the association. “Don’t offer us a broom and a rake. That’s a cruel joke.”

City officials said the prototype--which includes a 4-pound hand-held blower and a backpack battery unit--would operate about 22 minutes at full power before needing a recharge. From a distance of 50 feet, it runs at about 64 decibels. The typical gas blower, by contrast, runs at 70-75 decibels and can operate for at least an hour before refueling, city and industry officials said.

“It’s a good, fresh breath of innovation,” said Mike Kuwahara, chairman of the Lawn and Garden Dealers Coalition. But he warned that commercial gardeners would be unwilling to use electric technology that slows them down.

AeroVironment engineers said they would probably enlist some gardeners to begin testing the prototype within the next 30 days.

Members of the gardeners’ group said they will withhold judgment on the prototype until they see it tested in the field. But they cautioned that electric devices, while environmentally safer, may make their work more time-consuming.