Leaf Blower Hell

Submitted by chairmanm30w t3_yl90rp in ColumbiaMD

I live in Hickory Ridge. My neighborhood is filled with giant poplar trees. Approx 30% of my neighbors have decided to wage an unwinnable war against the leaves. 2 of my immediate neighbors have had landscapers over EVERY OTHER DAY FOR THE PAST WEEK to leaf blow. There are still plenty of leaves in the trees, so I know this will continue for a while. I work from home, and often struggle to have Zoom meetings because the sound from outside is so fucking loud. There's a guy nearby who has been leaf blowing for multiple hours a day every day since leaves started falling in the middle of summer.

I'm pretty chill, I lived in the city for years, I can handle some noise, but this is totally out of control. Does anyone know if the county is considering regulating this shit?

Edit: To those of you who have been offended by my post, and have given me such shitty, accusatory responses, I think you need to take a step back.

You do realize that when you moved here you entered into a legal agreement that seriously curtails your freedom to how you maintain your property, right? So why is the idea of regulating extremely disruptive and polluting machines so offensive to you? You agreed to a contract that says you can't change the color of your front door without going through a month long review process. You are not the stalwart of Libertarianism that you think you are.

Secondly, when you treat someone on this subreddit poorly, you are literally mistreating a member of your immediate community. I could be your next door neighbor for all you know. It's very ironic to me that some of you are so offended by my post that you said abusive things to me, because based on this lack of tolerance I'm sure the same lot of you would react very poorly to having your peace constantly disrupted. I have been nothing but respectful to my neighbors. I can't say the same for you.

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gravybang t1_iuxmljg wrote

>Does anyone know if the county is considering regulating this shit?

Oh sweet child. Find a coffee shop. The county isn't going to do shit.

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wd011 t1_iuxbg2n wrote

Ordinances likely exist. Enforcement also unlikely. There may be an uptick in daytime noise related complaints due to the large increase in the work from home workforce, so who knows?

https://www.howardcountymd.gov/sites/default/files/media/2016-09/OPS-05%20Noise%20Ordinance%20Enforcement.pdf

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Edit to add: the leaf blower brigade is now outside my house as I'm working from home. Although we also have a contractor who uses one at our residence. (The current one at my immediate neighbors). But all those guys are like 20 mins once a week. Not every day for hours.

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iuy5xsi wrote

I've never experienced anything like what's going on in my neighborhood. It literally goes on for hours a day, multiple days a week. And now looking outside, their yards are once again full of leaves because we (checks notes) live in the woods.

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ROIDTECH1 t1_ivegrkq wrote

edited as I think you live on the street I mentioned

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JimboFett87 t1_iuxw8uu wrote

The noise ordinance is only for certain situations and mostly at night.

I had a bad neighbor running an extremely loud generator less than thirty feet from my bedroom and the police couldn't do anything unless it was a)after 10 PM, I think, and at a certain decibel level measured by the police's calibrated equipment.

I feel for you. Columbia can be a freaking noisy place.

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serend1pity t1_iuyurdq wrote

As a musician and recording artist with a next door neighbor who blows his leaves EVERY DAY, usually MULTIPLE TIMES per day, I feel your pain. I legitimately think he has OCD because there is no other excuse for being that anal about having some leaves around. Not only can I not record while this is going on, but I have a baby whose naps are sometimes disturbed by the noise as well. The neighbor is super nice, so I don't want to get him in any trouble... I just wish there were something I could do without jeopardizing our friendly relationship.

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iuz0y01 wrote

Bro... we've got a guy just like this. He's super friendly, and clearly sees the condition of his yard as a sort of public service. He has some beautiful plantings, so I appreciate his hard work. But he blows leaves ALL DAY. Dual wielding at times. Pretty sure he's done it in the rain.

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ROIDTECH1 t1_iveh9i2 wrote

I just commented on another post about a retiree who dual-wields gas powered leaf blowers down the street from us, but it looks like you already know him and have to deal with it...I'm so sorry. As a side note, there is a house across the street from him, and slightly down the road toward the cul-de-sac, that emits a very high pitched whine that my wife and I have noticed for years. Ever heard it/dealt with it? Most of the people in that neighborhood are too old to hear it and it drives us nuts when we walk by...

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chairmanm30w OP t1_ivex9qz wrote

Honestly, it's validating to know we aren't alone in our struggles.

And that high pitched sound you're hearing is a deer deterrent device. It's so fucking obnoxious.

One piece of optimism that I try to keep in mind is that younger generations moving to this neighborhood seem to be much more sensitive to causing indiscriminate nuisances and preserving the naturalistic setting.

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SomeOldHippieChick t1_iv0c5l8 wrote

Are we neighbors?? I live next door to Blower Man, too! 🙄

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ROIDTECH1 t1_ivehoum wrote

I'm starting to think we all live in the same neighborhood...

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Particular_Look1965 t1_ivppcvo wrote

There is one in every neighborhood, an OCD addiction to either the weed wacker or leaf blower. Hours a day, several days a week.

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[deleted] t1_iuxvgmy wrote

[deleted]

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iuyx51m wrote

Not a novel concept. In DC you cannot sell or use gas powered leaf blowers because of the noise and air pollution. Electric are fine. There are also other counties in MD looking to impose similar regulations.

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ROIDTECH1 t1_iveh1hk wrote

Imagine the government maintaining that you need mufflers or catalytic converters on your vehicle due to air and noise pollution...oh wait.

"A 2011 study showed that a leaf blower emits nearly 300 times the amount of air pollutants as a pickup truck. Similarly, a 2001 study showed that one hour using a gas-powered lawn mower is equivalent to driving a car 100 miles" https://sustainability.wustl.edu/rethinking-lawn-equipment-2/#:~:text=A%202011%20study%20showed%20that,driving%20a%20car%20100%20miles.

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Ocarina_of_Crime_ t1_iuyhuln wrote

Tell them to just mow over them. It’s way better for the soil and they will biodegrade relatively quickly. It adds nitrogen to your dirt if I’m not mistaken.

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iuz0es5 wrote

That's what we do. The neighbors in question are really not into letting nature do its thing. We are in the woods, so there isn't much sun. They seem desperate to have green yards despite this, and are constantly blasting them with fertilizers and pesticides. And after all that, their yards really don't look that great anyway.

At my last house, we turned a shaded yard that was mostly dirt into a really beautiful mixed lawn through a combination of mulching leaves and sowing clover. I respect my neighbors' differing opinions on what makes an "ideal" lawn, but it would save them so much time and money if they would take a more conservative approach!

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cybexcybex t1_iuxcnwd wrote

Are you able to use headphones during your meetings? That helps cut down noise for me in Zoom meetings.

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Wirbelfeld t1_iuyg984 wrote

The microphone will still pick up the noise which is the main issue

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FineWinePaperCup t1_iuyjyid wrote

Feld, I think you are on mute.

Can you unmute.

I see you talking but… wait… there you are!

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Proof_Shape_4503 t1_iv5se1s wrote

Not a higher quality pair that has the ability to quiet those outside sounds

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Wirbelfeld t1_iv5v882 wrote

There is no such thing unless you are talking about pilot grade gear.

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von_sip t1_iuxsuhq wrote

If you have a HOA they might take action if they're explicitly violating a daytime noise-level rule—which they probably aren't. The county won't bother at all.

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Rashaverik t1_iuzkrjz wrote

The OP mentioned they're in Hickory Ridg, which is part of CA. None of the Villages under CA have any authority over any noise-levels. They will however cite you for excessive leaves on your property.

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iv1alk2 wrote

They don't cite for excessive leaves around here. Again, we live in the woods. Over half of the properties don't even have true lawns because of the full shade and large amount of leaves. These neighbors are actually the exception to the norm because most folks here take a much more conservative or efficient approach to managing the leaves.

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corranhorn6565 t1_iuyf963 wrote

It never fails that the leaf blowers and zero turn mowers show up right before a big meeting. It certainly seems like an inefficient way to move leaves around.

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guitarzan212 t1_iv0rqf7 wrote

Come on now, there's no way you're not being at least a tad overly dramatic right? Every day for multiple hours since the middle of the summer? Also, as long as they're doing it during the day, there's likely nothing you can do about it. Maybe look to move or buy some soundproofing or maybe go rake your own leaves as well and show 'em who's boss!

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iv17y4k wrote

I'm not exaggerating. PM me and I will gladly give you a location that will allow you to experience the same conditions I deal with every single day.

If you read my post, I was asking about UPCOMING regulations. I am aware the current ones don't cover this problem. Sound proofing my 50 year old house with giant windows, or spending thousands of dollars to move away, are not realistic options for me right now.

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hokiejosie t1_iv1ovd7 wrote

Reach out to your council rep! They’re usually pretty wonderful when dealing with their constituents! They can tell you if there has been any discussion of making changes!

Also, another argument to add to your list is that gas powered lawn equipments isn’t very healthy for those who operate it (talking crews operating it all day every weekday)

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Nottheface1337 t1_iuxu49i wrote

Zoom should have background noise cancellation. So. Shouldn’t be an issue for those that are listening to you. Gas blowers are annoying and polluting so I agree with you there. I do use one though so I’m part of the problem. We also live in a heavily wooded area so if you dont do them regularly (a couple times a week) it becomes a whole day affair or an unmanageable task to clear them. It’s also expensive to have people take care of them for you. It’s also more difficult when you have neighbors who dont take care of their leaves and let them blow onto your property then forcing you to continue to solve the problem of clearing all the neighbors leaves. Not saying that’s the case as I have no idea if you have trees, or are in an apartment etc) You are not the problem here. This is a temporary problem thankfully. And isn’t an un-winnable war. You could always cut down all the trees…shrugs…Winter is coming friend. I guess welcome to the suburbs.

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iuyzojz wrote

All of my neighbors use the same team of two elderly men who ride around on giant mowers while holding the leaf blowers. They're definitely not the fastest crew you've ever seen. Usually it takes them about an hour and half per yard. So, I have three neighbors who all hire these two same guys every 2-3 days. Then there is this other guy who is nice, but I genuinely think might be mentally ill, because he's out there blowing EVERY DAY for hours on end.

Like I said, I'm not the type to get worked up about this kind of thing. But they're so inefficient, and it's gone on so long, it's starting to really bum me out.

And to answer your question, we do get a TON of leaves ourselves. But we mulch them using a battery powered mower, which is supposed to be good for the soil.

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freecain t1_iuxxqoi wrote

Noise cancelling could, in theory, be done by zoom, but it takes a lot of coordination between speakers and usually a couple of microphones to figure out the distance of the sound and pin point what to cancel out (both in terms of the headphones and the microphone side of noise canceling). This is why Apple was able to get noise canceling microphones on calls faster than android - they only had to deal with one physical phone. Either way - you can purchase noise canceling microphones - though researching it is a pain since "noise canceling" in headphone refers to the playback side of things, and OP would want the microphone side. They do exist though.

Edit: found this article with some suggestions - https://expertworldtravel.com/best-noise-cancelling-microphones/

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Ayjia t1_iv0ass2 wrote

Obvious question - have you talked to your neighbors about it? You work from home, this is obviously disruptive, etc.

Presuming that you already have (or if they don't seem to care) I'd probably talk to the HOA. Unfortunately, no laws or ordinances are being broken - exemptions to the noise ordinances are carved out for lawn care (/eyeroll) - but it might be useful to have a complaint on record anyway. Who knows, they'd at least have some sort of mediation available, at least, to prevent this from rising to the levels of neighborhood disputes (one would hope).

Honestly, they really need to do something about the noise levels of landscaping equipment. My neighbors a few houses down have a crew that (thankfully) is there once a week, but despite being 300+ ft away, you'd think they were right outside my bedroom window. Not fantastic when you suffer from migraines. Occasionally there's a county crew on the paths nearby, and they're even worse. If the equipment is so loud the user has to wear protective headphones, maybe, just maybe, it's too loud for anyone nearby.

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iv19ep2 wrote

I moved in last year and have gotten standoffish vibes from the neighbors in question. They are all in their 80s (original homeowners from '71!) and in poor health, so I've been reluctant to rock the boat. But at the end of the day, that's probably the only thing I can do.

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hokiejosie t1_iv1oce1 wrote

Could they have some dementia and be forgetting how long they’ve been out and that they already blew the leaves?

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iv2cv8t wrote

My elderly neighbors hire out, and they all hire the same crew consisting of two guys in their 60s. Today, they have been working on the same yard for at least 3 hours, though the last hour has been spent putting the leaves through a chipper. This is the second pass they've done on that one house alone this week.

There is this other guy who does it himself for hours at a time that I think might have OCD or Aspereger's. He maintains a very tidy property and otherwise seems very independent and competent, so I'm not super concerned that he needs adult services or something.

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justthezipcode t1_iv0ep13 wrote

Ah yes, the autumn chorus of leaf blowers- my favorite....not! My neighbor leaf blows half the street. It's loud and smells horrible for hours. I was wondering if we could get a gas powered equipment ban like in California.

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cscjm1010 t1_iv0suo8 wrote

Lol. Those gas ones brapp like my 2 stroke dirt bike. I think Moco is banning gas ones soon. Apparently terrible for the environment and noise pollution

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mybluerat t1_iv12zh3 wrote

I wish they would make a rule so that everyone has to do it at the same time or something!

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iv2dgqr wrote

While I see where you're going with this, that would be a truly unpleasant experience for all involved lol. Actually, maybe it would turn people off to gas powered leaf blowers altogether?

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kevinxb t1_ix3lzdd wrote

Some coordination would be nice. Now that the trees are mostly done dropping leaves, every house on my street has done theirs except one. And it's the one next door to me, and now their leaves constantly blow into everyone else's yard.

I mowed before we went out of town last weekend and came back to huge piles of their leaves on the side of our house. They still haven't done them. What irks me is the house is rented. If you don't want to do yard work, rent an apartment.

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No-Organization6449 t1_iuyivkp wrote

Sounds like you would be a better fit for Montgomery County.

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chairmanm30w OP t1_iuz1qdu wrote

Kinda confused why people are reacting so poorly to this idea. As Columbia residents, we literally sign contracts relinquishing all sorts of rights to how we maintain our properties. But the idea of restricting in someway the use of insanely loud and highly polluting machines is a step too far, it seems.

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tptips420-69 t1_iuywanr wrote

Next complain about the neighbors not upkeeping their property.

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GingerMan027 t1_iuyjuh9 wrote

They need to be banned. Leaves are good for lawns and the environment. Bugs need them, so birds need them. they do not hurt the grass. Just another corporate contribution to environmental catastrophe.

I have noticed way fewer dead bugs everywhere these days.

OIOH. half the Hispanics would be unemployed without them.

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