GREENWICH, CT- The term “rules for thee, but not for me” may seem a bit trite and somewhat overused.
However, when we travel down to the Gold Coast of Connecticut, located in the southwestern corner of the state, that appears to be precisely the case. Of course, this should be no surprise since Connecticut is about as left as they come.
In 2024, a nanny-state group, Quiet Yards Greenwich, achieved its dream of severely restricting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in the swanky community when the town passed a leaf blower ordinance.
Gas-powered leaf blowers are prohibited from the Friday before Memorial Day through September 30, which is when most such blowers would be used.
However, if you’re wealthy and own a property exceeding two acres, the restriction is lifted the day after Labor Day.
The ordinance prohibits any leaf blower (gas-powered or otherwise) from being used between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. Monday through Friday and between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
This is the nanny state on steroids.
Penalties vary from a “warning and education” up to $249 for the third and subsequent offense. And who is responsible for enforcing this ordinance? The Greenwich Police Department.
All of this applies unless you are working at the home of Elizabeth Dempsey, the founder of Quiet Yards Greenwich.
According to the Connecticut Centinal, landscapers using unmarked trucks were seen at Dempsey’s home using gas-powered leaf blowers in violation of the ordinance. Moreover, they did so in full view of a sign announcing “Gas Leaf Blowers Prohibited.”
This is not, however, the first time that crews working at Dempsey’s home have broken the rules.
The Centinal reports that they were caught violating the ordinance last summer also, which was the first year the ordinance was in effect.
The Greenwich Time reports that 27 police officers responded to 71 leaf blower complaints called in during the first week of this year’s ban, which closely matches the number of calls from last year.
These are the same police officers that leftists such as Dempsey refer to as “storm troopers” and “Gestapo” for enforcing federal immigration laws. They have no problem, however, with harassing homeowners and small businesses for using gas leaf blowers.
One can imagine that in a town such as Greenwich, the police have better things to do than being the landscaping police. As a point of information, 85% of the complaints received were unfounded.
The police department reported that it responded to 162 calls in the first month of the ban last year; however, the number of calls dropped significantly as the summer progressed.
Last year, several confrontations occurred between residents and landscaping companies, which Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo hopes to avoid this year. He noted things have been more peaceful this year than last.
The Connecticut Centinal also noted that Greenwich town employees have been seen violating the gas-powered leaf blower ban, noting that since the town turned down the DPW’s nearly half-million dollar budget increase to help fund expensive battery-powered units, it isn’t surprising that they are violating the ordinance.
Battery-powered devices use lithium-ion batteries, which have been responsible for a number of fires, including a structure fire in Port Chester, New York, earlier this month, according to a Facebook post.
Last November, a lithium-ion cellphone battery on a Southwest Airlines aircraft in Denver ignited, forcing the evacuation of the plane.
According to a landscaper coalition, they have found gas-powered leaf blowers that are quieter than their battery-powered counterparts, are more economical to operate, and don’t release dangerous chemicals into the environment, including toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into the environment.
As for the police, those who spoke to the Connecticut Centinal off the record “just rolled their eyes and shook their heads when asked about the ordinance,” adding that it was “stupid” and “annoying,” the Centinal reported.
Property owners are also aggrieved by the ordinance and complain that they are being treated “unfairly and discriminated against” because they don’t own property exceeding two acres, which allows them an extra month in the fall to use gas-powered units.
Apparently, there is no “equity” in Greenwich.
Comments
2025-06-25T17:37-0400 | Comment by: Mike
Poor old Roger Sherman would spin in his grave like a top if he could see the cesspool that Connecticut has turned into.