Three reasons, plainly
Quiet is already our rule
PHCA's own Community Rules already name this: §20 treats noise that violates “Princeville's quiet enjoyment policies” as a nuisance and a behavioural offence, and §21 already restricts when yard work may happen. This campaign asks the Board to give that existing promise a clear, measurable form — a specific equipment rule, instead of arguing about how loud is too loud on a given morning.
PHCA Community Rules, §§20–21 (27 Mar 2025).
The dust, and the person holding the machine
A blower's problem is its airstream, not its fuel: in a UC Riverside study, an electric blower produced the highest particulate levels of any tool tested, while raking produced none of significance — dust, pollen and soil blown into the air we breathe. And for the crews closest to the work, a 2025 NIOSH field study found 94 of 119 full-shift noise measurements at or above the recommended limit, with gas blowers' breathing-zone carbon monoxide about 18× the battery equivalent.
Fitz et al. 2021, UC Riverside; Alexander et al. 2025 (NIOSH).
Other places did this — and their yards are fine
Washington, DC voted unanimously in 2018. Portland voted unanimously in 2024. Montgomery County passed 10–1. Battery-only landscapers testified it is viable to run a business on electric equipment, and city crews matched gas productivity with battery packages. Those places banned gas blowers; Princeville's version goes one step further — all blowers, on the dust evidence — and says so openly.
DC Act 22-538; Portland Ordinance 191653; Montgomery County, 2023; DC Council hearing testimony, 2018.
“Residents praise the relative quiet, clear air, and greatly increased awareness of wildlife, especially birds, throughout the day. And Larchmont remains as beautiful as ever.”
The ask, in one paragraph
End leaf blowers on residential lots — gas, electric, battery, corded — because the dust is a property of blowing itself. Phase out the rest of the gas gear on a short, dated schedule as it wears out: trimmers, edgers and hedge trimmers by month 12; mowers and routine chainsaw use by month 18. Electric mowers and trimmers stay — they are the alternative, not the target. The first six months are education only: notices, a published list of compliant landscapers, warnings instead of fines. Storm, emergency and large-tree work is exempt. One majority vote of the PHCA Board adopts it — no referendum, no study, no trial period in front of the vote.
Why faster than DC or Portland? Their long calendars were buying time for the battery equipment of their era — newer, pricier, less familiar. In 2026 commercial battery equipment is mature, cheaper, and already in daily use; more than half of professional landscape companies surveyed in 2025 had already integrated it. Princeville cites their votes, not their calendars.
Add your name
Boards move when they can count the support. Add your name to the list of Princeville owners backing Quiet Princeville; when the list is long enough, it goes to the Board with the full proposal. Every name here is a neighbour who read the ask above and said yes.
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Five questions neighbours ask
What about my landscaper?
Your crew keeps working. The rule is on the lot owner, education comes first, and a published list of compliant landscapers rewards the crews who switch early with more work. Battery equipment is standard commercial gear now — in DC, a battery-only operator testified he would not be in business if it weren't viable, and city crews in South Pasadena matched gas productivity with battery packages. What changes is the tools on the truck, on the wear-out schedule in the ask — not who does your yard.
What will it cost me?
Nothing changes overnight, and nothing working gets thrown away. Gas gear is replaced as it wears out, inside the dated schedule — handhelds by month 12, mowers by month 18. If a crew maintains your yard, the switch is theirs to make on that same timetable, with the compliant-crew list steering work toward the ones who move first. Electric tools cost less to run and maintain than gas; the honest cost is the replacement itself, when the old tool's life is over.
What about storms and fallen trees?
Exempt, in the text of the rule. Emergency work to remove a safety hazard or restore access, storm and flood cleanup, and large-tree chainsaw work where a battery or electric saw is unsuitable are all carved out — and the Board or General Manager can suspend the rule for up to 30 days after a named storm. Nobody clears a fallen tree with a rake.
Who enforces it — will neighbours be reporting neighbours?
No. Enforcement is by PHCA Patrol or staff observation, the lot owner is responsible for their own tenants, guests and contractors, and a first verified incident draws a written warning — citations only after that, under the association's existing Article IV process, with hearing and appeal rights intact. Compliance is never based on neighbours photographing or reporting individual yard workers.
Why do electric blowers have to go too?
Because the blower's distinctive harm is its airstream, not its fuel. Blower air can reach 200 mph, sending dust, pollen, pesticides, mould and soil metals into the air (Mount Sinai); in the UC Riverside test, an electric handheld blower produced the highest particulate levels of any tool tried, while raking produced none of significance. The mainland rules that banned gas only solved noise and exhaust and left the dust. On Princeville's small, open-window lots, the alternatives — rake, leaf vacuum, mulch-mowing — do the blower's actual work without it.
Want the full case — the complete draft rule, the chart data, the legal background, how other campaigns won, and every source?