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Greetings!
Portland has finally released its draft administrative rules for enforcing the city’s leaf blower ordinance, starting January 1, 2026.
Unfortunately, we think the proposed rules are weak and overly complicated. Please help us to strengthen those rules by providing feedback to the city by December 14th.
Here are our top concerns (feel free to draw on these in your comments):
The draft rules postpone civil penalties until 2028. This undermines the success of the ordinance and conflicts with the language in the code. If the city is sincere about eliminating gas leaf blowers, the ordinance needs teeth like any other law. The rules should explicitly state that starting January 1, 2026, the city may issue civil penalties for violations as outlined in the code. The city has had a year and a half to inform property owners of the approaching start date (with over a month still left) – and QCPDX supporters have been distributing notification postcards and flyers all over the city, and getting word out in local media. There is no excuse to delay full enforcement.
This ordinance is not about noise. Putting the complaint form in the “Report a Noise Concern” section of the Permitting and Development website is confusing and inappropriate. The code is located in Title 17 Public Improvements, not the noise code. It prohibits the use of a harmful machine – i.e., gas blowers. The policy needs its own complaint form focused solely on reporting the unlawful use of a gas blower.
The requirements that trigger a penalty are unnecessarily complicated. The current rules state that penalties may be issued “to an owner who receives 3 or more Valid Complaints within 90 calendar days from the issued date of a warning letter and who receives a formal notice of violation but fails to cure the violation within 30 calendar days after the date on the notice.” This is unnecessarily complicated, and nothing like this is included in the original code. The rules should simply state that a property owner who fails to cure the violation within 30 days of a notice of violation may be issued a penalty as stated in the code.
Thank you for making your voice heard in this important final step of the ordinance!
The Quiet Clean PDX Steering Committee
Michael Hall, Albert Kaufman, Tamara Olcott, Stanley Penkin, Brian Stewart, and Judy Walton
PS - we have lots of postcards like the ones below - want some? Contact Albert
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