2nd annual SUMMER PALOOZA: Along with numerous community and environmental groups, QC NOVA had a table at this fun event hosted by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck on Saturday June 6. Storck himself would be in favor of prohibiting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in Fairfax County but, of course, recognizes the current obstacles. Interestingly, he reported that while the Mount Vernon government property has been re-landscaped with native plants pursuant to efforts to mitigate the impact of a changing climate and to adopt sustainable landscape care practices, the usual landscape contractor has declined to continue/to bid on the next contract, claiming that it does not have the skills to work with native plantings. (Might it be possible that sustainable landscaping requires less intensive care and therefore is less interesting in terms of the landscape companies’ bottom lines?)
Storck brought to our table a representative of another community group — Defensores de la Cuenca (Defenders of the [Chesapeake Bay] Watershed) — and suggested that perhaps QC NOVA could work with them to train hispanic landscape workers in taking care of native plantings. Defensores already works on expanding the tree canopy in our region. Definitely an idea to pursue since part of our mission statement is to promote sustainable lawn-care practices.
One Step Closer to an Arlington Ban: At its regular monthly meeting on Saturday June 13, the Arlington County Board voted 5-0 to advertise that it will take up at its July meeting a proposal to amend the Arlington noise ordinance to prohibit use of gas-powered leaf blowers/vacuums after a transition period of 18-36 months.
The County staff proposed a three-year transition period, but after multiple letters and in-person testimony from QC Northern Virginia Arlingtonians and others, the Board agreed to advertise 18-36 months. Had the advertisement not been changed to 18-36 months, the eventual noise ordinance would have had 36 months baked in. The advertisement of the proposed amended noise ordinance opens another month for public comment and we will be pushing for more Arlington resident letters and testimony in favor of no more than 18 months.
All five Board members are in favor of a ban, but some are feeling anxious about the possible impact on small lawn care companies registered to work in Arlington. Some companies have put forth the same lazy myth about electric blowers not being powerful enough and, of course, some have said that they cannot afford the transition. Unsurprisingly, 68% of the 19 lawn care companies that responded to Arlington’s public engagement questionnaire were “not comfortable” with the concept of prohibiting year-round use of GLBs. Yet, that leaves nearly one-third who were “very comfortable.” Since Arlington’s neighbors on three sides (DC, Montgomery County Maryland, and Alexandria City Virginia) have already banned GLBs (or will in November in the case of Alexandria), many lawn care companies operating in the DMV are already using electric for those jurisdictions. The future is clearly electric!