By Lookout Staff

September 10, 2010 -- The Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday will likely vote to crack down on the use of motorized leaf blowers, which were first restricted nearly two decades ago in response to noise complaints.

Under a proposed modification of the existing law, the City’s Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE) would be in charge of enforcement, rather than the Police Department, which until now had to witness the violation in order to an infraction or a misdemeanor citation.

In addition, the responsibility of following the law would not fall solely on the leaf blower operator. Property owners, water customers, owners and operators of gardening or landscape maintenance services and property management companies also would be held responsible.

Under the old model, "the difficulty of timely direct observation, in addition to modest public knowledge of the restrictions, limited the ordinance’s effectiveness," said Dean Kubani, director of the OSE.

Under the proposed ordinance, the OSE would conduct public education and enforcement through use of administrative citations at an annual cost of $54,992.

It is not the first time the OSE would step into an enforcement role. The office currently manages and enforces similar ordinances, including urban runoff and water conservation requirements.

The violations are "punishable by an administrative citation when informational and educational efforts fail to result in corrective action," Kubani said. "The citations are appealable to a Hearing Examiner."

Under the new model, staff would respond to complaints and patrol the City looking for violations.

"If a leaf blower is seen in use, staff would inform the operator of the law, take a photo if possible, and then send a warning letter and photo to the involved parties," Kubani said.

"The letter would provide information about the ordinance, state the violation and corrective action, and direct the recipient to respond in writing when leaf blowers are no longer being used at the property," he said.

The City first restricted leaf blowers in 1991 and amended the code in 1995 to targeted users of motorized leaf blowers.