It’s official: gas-powered leaf blowers are getting banned in Arlington.
County Board members on Saturday adopted a 29-month phase-out period for gas-powered leaf blowers countywide, a timeframe officials said would help to make sure the transition goes smoothly.
“It’s really about, how do we set ourselves up for success?” said Board member Maureen Coffey, who successfully proposed setting the deadline at Jan. 1, 2029.
“The real way to make this happen is to make sure we are creating a system and a structure that supports the transition and gets everyone there,” she said. “My worry with moving faster is, we could have set ourselves up for failure.”
The 5-0 vote came as a disappointment to some community members, who had urged Board members to impose a phase-out period of as little as 18 months. That brisk timeline seemed to appeal to no one on the Board, with Chair Matt de Ferranti suggesting the ultimate choice would be either two years, three years or somewhere in between.
When the planning for an eventual prohibition on gas leaf blowers began, county staff recommended a three-year phase-out period. Staff stuck with that recommendation, but leading up to the July 18 meeting offered an alternative — a shorter cut-off period coupled with financial support for smaller businesses to help them make the transition.
But responding to questions from de Ferranti and others, County Attorney Ryan Samuel put the kibosh on financial incentives. “The concern would be treating different businesses differently, just based on their size,” he said.
Both de Ferranti and colleague Takis Karantonis seemed willing to consider setting the deadline earlier than the one proposed by Coffey, but raised no major objections to her proposal.
De Ferranti said the business community had made “very persuasive” arguments for going beyond the 18-month period sought by a number of county advisory panels.
Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., agreed that feedback from those in the industry had made a strong case.
“There has been a very consistent message and theme — they need time to adapt,” Spain said, calling the 29-month period “a realistic timeline.”
The longer period would give smaller firms the opportunity to spread out the purchase of new equipment, Spain said.
“They don’t have the financial resources of a large organization,” he said. “They work right there on the margins.”
While the timeline could be considered largely a victory for those in the lawn-care industry, some of its leaders had sought the full 36-month transition, or no mandate at all.
Before the final vote, Todd Darling, who operates an Arlington based lawn care firm, urged deferring consideration of any changes until potential impacts have been more thoroughly evaluated.
But Stephen D’Alessio, a local resident who pushed for an 18-month phase-out period, said such concerns were “completely unsubstantiated.”
“The industry has already begun the process to transition away from gas-powered leaf blowers,” he said. “A further delay will weaken Arlington’s reputation as an environmental leader.”
Coffey said the Board’s commitment to the environment remains strong.
“We really do recognize there are adverse impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers,” she said. “I don’t think anyone on this Board wants to diminish the concerns and the legitimate grievances that there are with those.”
However, Coffey added, county officials are going to have to largely rely on the public and lawn-care firms to voluntarily abide by the regulations once they kick in.
“We are not going to be able to enforce our way into compliance,” she said.
Arlington leaders believe they have the power to prohibit gas-powered leaf blowers under the county’s noise ordinance, basing their position on a 2024 legal opinion from then-Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) on Alexandria’s powers to regulate the industry.
Alexandria used that opinion last year when it set an 18-month phase-out of gas-powered blowers.
The Miyares opinion cited language in Alexandria’s city charter in saying the action was permitted. His opinion also suggested other localities could use their noise ordinances to enact “reasonable” restrictions.
His opinion, however, did not have the force of law, and the General Assembly has never confirmed Miyares’s legal view. Bills to give Virginia localities explicit authority to regulate leaf-blower noise either died or were pushed to 2027 in this year’s General Assembly session.
That lack of clarity from the legislature could muddy the waters if any firms decided to challenge Arlington’s action in court, county staff acknowledged in reports to Board members.
Miyares’s 2024 opinion acknowledged such an eventuality. When there is “reasonable doubt whether legislative power exists, the doubt must be resolved against the local governing body,” he wrote, citing state court rulings.
