Residents of Oak Bay, British Columbia will soon have to turn off their gas leaf fans forever.
Councilors from the southern community on Vancouver Island voted Tuesday to phase out all garden tools for gas over the next three years. The proposal should enter into force in 2023, which means that residents have until the end of 2025 to replace old tools with newer technologies, such as electric alternatives.
The proposal was submitted by Coun. Tara Ney mentions her concerns about carbon emissions and noise. Ney said the three-year window gives time to lower the price of power tools.
“Technology will advance and costs will decrease,” Ney said, speaking to the council on Wednesday.
Mayor Kevin Murdoch says leaking the information now gives Oak Bay residents time to prepare.
“Once people find out when they go to the store and their mower is working or they need a new weeder, they’ll say, ‘Well, God, I really need to look for an electrical option right now,'” Murdoch said. “It will be an organic change over the next three years.”
In 2021, the council voted to phase out the use of carbon-producing garden equipment by 2025. This week’s decision comes after a 2021 petition launched by Oak Bay resident Francis Landy calling for a ban on residents using gas-powered leaf fans.
As of Wednesday morning, the petition had 670 signatures.
Noise, pollution concerns
Currently, Oak Bay residents can operate a gas fan for leaves between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays and between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays, according to local regulations.
“Noise is a very underestimated health problem,” Landy told BC Today on Wednesday.
The petitioner said he was “shocked” to see how the council accepted the proposal, which he said could help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or tinnitus.
According to WorkSafeBC, noise levels above 85 decibels, averaged over eight hours, can damage hearing, and lawn mowers and leaf blowers can pose these risks.
According to the California Air Resources Board, a public agency set up to fight air pollution, using a gas-powered leaf fan for an hour emits as much smog-producing pollution as a modern 1,770-kilometer sedan.
Oak Bay is not alone in its efforts to phase out gas-powered garden tools.
A 2004 noise regulation banned the use of gas leaf fans in the West End area of Vancouver, making it the first neighborhood in Canada to ban devices.
In July 2021, a study by Research Co. among 800 British Colombians, 34 per cent, roughly a third, were in favor of a municipal ban on lawn mowers, while more than 44 per cent were against. But support for banning leaf gas fans is highest on Vancouver Island, where 48 percent of those polled are behind the idea.
Half of the people surveyed said they were worried about noise pollution related to the use of landscaping equipment, “many” or “a decent amount”, while 40 percent felt the same way about air pollution.
Murdoch said he believes neighboring jurisdictions will follow suit and also start banning gas-powered garden equipment now that Oak Bay has made its decision.
The mayor also said district officials would prepare a report for the council detailing how the ban should be enforced when it takes effect.
Murdoch said municipalities do not have the power to regulate environmental issues – only the provincial government has – and officials will work with the province to figure out how to structure Oak Bay’s bylaws to do so.
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