MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Maplewood’s controversial ordinance that blocked landscapers from using gas-powered leaf blowers is still the subject of a lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association, which has hopes to change the town’s position on using the landscaping tool. The ordinance passed last April when residents complained that a less restrictive rule was not being enforced, and members of the Township Committee said that it is meant to decrease noise and environmental pollution.
“The use of gas powered (non-electric) leaf blowers is prohibited within the township of Maplewood from May 15th through September 30th of each year by all commercial entities,” the ordinance reads.
The NJLCA says in the lawsuit that the problem is that the rule does not apply to everyone — residents in Maplewood can use the gas-powered leaf blowers as well as the town’s own landscaping crew.
“The basis is it’s unconstitutional,” David Mairo, of the firm Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC, which is representing the NJLCA in the lawsuit, said in a March 12 phone interview with the News-Record. “We’re looking for more reasonable terms that allow landscapers to do their jobs and also address the town’s concerns.”
The lawsuit was filed in October 2017 and, according to Mairo, is still in discovery. The NJLCA and the town both have a lot of time to provide information and respond to one another, and Mairo said there has not been a lot of movement on the case recently. No dates have been set for anyone involved in the lawsuit to provide depositions.
Mayor Vic DeLuca declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
Nelson Lee, president of the NJLCA, told the News-Record that there is no timeline for the lawsuit to be resolved, and that both sides are still going back and forth.
According to Mairo, Maplewood’s leaf blower ban has affected landscapers’ ability to effectively do their jobs in the town.
“They can’t offer the types of services that they normally would,” he said. “And the customers don’t get the level of service that they expect. I know some have lost customers because of it.”
Mairo also said that not being able to use gas-powered leaf blowers has caused landscapers to use other tools to clear leaves from clients’ properties, and they shouldn’t have to do that.
“They’re using equipment that is not designed for what they’re doing,” Mairo said. “It’s like using a hammer to screw in a screw. It’s also forcing residents to use their own equipment, which … takes longer to do the same amount of work.”
Mairo said that the pollution-and-noise reasoning that the town has said was behind the leaf blower ban is speculation, and is not proven rationale.
“Only 2 percent of lawsuits go to trial,” Mairo said about how the lawsuit will eventually be resolved. “We have no dates set for anything, but we’re open to discussing going another route. It begs the question: Do they (Maplewood) want to spend their taxpayers’ money (on this)?”
Landscapers’ lawsuit over leaf blower ban drags on added by Amanda Valentovic on
View all posts by Amanda Valentovic →