Table of Contents
Get our free local reporting delivered straight to your inbox. No noise, no spam — just clear, independent coverage of Marblehead. Sign up for our once-a-week newsletter.
Seasonal gas leaf blower ban begins Memorial Day
Marblehead’s seasonal prohibition on gas-powered leaf blowers goes back into effect Monday, May 25, barring their use through Labor Day as the town begins another summer under a bylaw first approved by Town Meeting in 2022.
The rule applies to gas-powered leaf blowers only. Electric and battery-powered blowers are not covered by the bylaw, and gas-powered equipment remains allowed during the rest of the year, subject to other town rules. The bylaw also allows a representative chosen by the Select Board to permit gas-powered leaf blower use in an emergency.
Town officials issued a yearly reminder Sunday that the ban begins May 25. The summertime restriction was adopted May 3, 2022, during the second night of Annual Town Meeting. Voters approved Article 31, “Summer Break from Gas Powered Leaf Blower,” 254-202. The motion added language to the town’s bylaws prohibiting gas-powered leaf blowers from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year and allowing their use for the rest of the year.
The property owner where a violation occurs is responsible for compliance, and warnings and fines are issued to the property owner. Enforcing authorities who witness a violation may require the user to stop immediately.
Penalties begin with a written warning for a first violation. A second violation carries a $100 fine, and a third or subsequent violation carries a $200 fine. Each violation counts separately.
Town Meeting returned to the issue in 2023. A proposal to repeal the 2022 ban failed, while Article 48, adding enforcement language, passed 246-165. The approved language gives the Marblehead Police Department, the Marblehead Health Department and their designees authority to administer and enforce violations.
