Last night’s RTM Ordinance Committee Meeting became heated as RTM and members of the public discussed the proposed ordinance in Westport that would limit the usage of gasoline powered leaf blowers. By the end of the four hour meeting, tempers had flared, lots of questions were raised, and the proposal could not be moved to the next phase in the RTM’s ordinance process.

The ordinance proposal would limit the usage of gasoline power leaf blowers to certain hours of the day, and only during certain weeks of the year - such as Spring and Fall periods. It also would limit the amount of blowers a property could have based on its size. The ordinance would be enforced by the Westport Police Department, according to RTM members proposing the ordinance.

The proposal comes from RTM (district) members Kristin Schneeman (9th), Andrew Colabella (4th) , and Jessica Bram (6th), and was presented to the RTM Ordinance Committee: District 7: Brandi Briggs, Chair (7th), Peter Gold (5th), Kristan Hamlin (4th), Lauren Karpf (7th), Christine Meiers-Schatz (2nd), Stephen Shackelford (8th); Kristin Schneeman is also a member of the Ordinance Committee. The meeting was attended by over 50 residents, business owners, in addition to State Representative Steinberg and employees for the Town of Westport.

Kristin Schneeman, who is the Director of The Milken Institute’s FasterCures Center and has a background in medical research, mostly spoke on behalf of the trio of RTM members proposing the ordinance and described the ordinance as necessary due to the dangers of both environmental pollution as well as the dangers to one’s health and well-being. Schneeman explained her working home for the past 15 years and the displeasure of the noise of neighbors’ leaf blowers throughout the days. After researching the topic, she said she was surprised by how detrimental the machines really were to both her health and the environment.

Westport Parks & Recreation Director Jan Fava began on a negative note, and described concern for the ordinance - stating that residents and visitors to parks such as Longshore would have to expect a different level of care if the ordinance were to pass. She explained that the Parks & Recreation crews need to use the blowers in the mornings due to tee times beginning near sunrise. Fava also described the need for powerful machines to clear debris from the fields and greens, and the need for multiple machines to cover the large spaces efficiently. Kristan Hamlin (4th) said that regardless of whether or not Longshore is a golf course, they should be held to the same standard as the property is surrounded by residential neighborhoods.

A large supporter of the ordinance was Dan Delventhal, who owns Mowgreen landscaping company. Delventhal’s Fairfield-based company is a fully-electric landscaping service, and services some homes as large as 5 acres “fully electric.” He cited the machines’ long term cost savings in addition to their benefits to health and air pollution. He claimed that 2019 say a 3.5% increase to greenhouse gases, with “10% of all air pollution coming from small gas gear.”

The conversation quickly became heated, as RTM members Jimmy Izzo (3rd) and Peter Gold (5th) began a debate when Gold described a hypothetical comparison: chemical run-off onto a neighbor’s lawn being similar to noise pollution from a neighbor’s gas powered leaf blower bringing up. Izzo, who was apparently not in favor of the proposal, shouted at Gold after the fellow RTM member mentioned his name “don’t tell me what to do with my equipment!” before a point of order was called.

Wendy Batteau (8th) was also opposed to the ordinance, citing the community’s responsibility to look out for the landscape workers serving the community. She described her worry for them and their businesses, including the inability to attend the Zoom meeting due to lack of access. She quickly added that she didn’t appreciate “stealth lobbying” performed by the proposing members, including an 11:00 PM phone call to her the night before the ordinance committee meeting by Schneeman.

Several local landscapers spoke up on their own behalf, like Westport’s Donny Macaluso, who described the large investments he’s made and the loss he would suffer should the ordinance pass.

RTM member Andrew Colabella stated that Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas was uncomfortable with the idea of police enforcement of the ordinance due to the type of evidence a private citizen’s report would contain. Colabella also described the Department being low on manpower, stating that the usual 64 member force is “well under that” right now . Schneeman added to the enforcement portion of the ordinance, stating that “we wouldn’t want police officers in police cruisers rolling up to landscaping crews in Westport, for a variety of other reasons.” She did not elaborate.

The meeting, which ended around 11:30 PM, did not provide enough information for the ordinance to pass onto the next phase - as all present members of the Ordinance Committee, except Schneeman, voted to push the proposal back to other committees for further discussion and conversation prior to its return to the Ordinance Committee.