The sunbreak might be a great time to do this if you can – thanks to Kevin Freitas for the photos and reminder:
A reminder for folks able, please consider clearing a storm drain or two near you, especially in places where people need to walk, roll, or take transit.
I cleared the bus lane near 35th/Avalon as it was a lake and a few other nearby spots.
And remember that it’s still “extra yard waste at no extra charge” month.
Will there be a law in Seattle that bans gas powered leaf blowers and if so when does it go into effect? I can not count the number of times I have seen professional yard maintenance workers using them to blow leaves from yards and sidewalks into the street. If they are being paid to take care of them then they should bag them up and remove them. Kinda ridiculous that we need to pass another law/ordinance to get them to do so , so that it’s not somebody else’s problem
I think the gas blower ban is more about noise pollution and emissions. Electric blowers work just as well for making your leaf problem someone else’s. What we could really use are some accountability laws.
Exactly, thus my ending statement, kinda ridiculous that we may need to pass something to get these companies to stop making the leaves they were paid to take of someone else’s problem
If those same workers use an electric or battery version to blow those leaves into the street, is it ok?
No, I asked a question that I thought the WSB might be able to answer. The company that does cleanup on my buildings property using gas blowers and the smell and noise when they use them is a lot, especially inside of our courtyard. Then I added a comment. The post I commented on was about leaves in the streets. We have people, being paid to take care of the leaves, putting them into the streets. A solution would be bagging them up and removing them. How would using an electric blower to blow them into the street help with the issue?
Agreed. This drives me crazy. Just blowing leaves to be someone else’ problem. How hard is it to pick it up and put it in the green barrel? Especially with what we pay our gardener…
“How hard is it to put it in a barrel” says someone who pays someone to do their yard work…
@Derek if you go get your oil changed for example, do they leave the old oil in the car for you?
Yes the city has issued Resolution 32064, which the states the city would like to phase out gas powered leaf-blowers used by the City and their Contractors by January 1 2025, and institutions located in Seattle, Businesses operating in Seattle, and Seattle Residents by January 1, 2027.https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?GUID=D9E25C2A-861F-4048-A306-1EB17017D297&ID=11317627&M=F&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
It’s not common practice with professional landscapers to blow the mess into the street(believe it’s illegal). Electric blowers are not the equivalent of gas blowers. If gas blowers get banned, a 1 hour job turns into a multiple hours job, and will cost a lot more for the client. Gas blowers are incredibly efficient just as gas chainsaws. Can you image a arborist with only a hand saw?…
I can’t understand the “lawn dad” obsession with removing leaves. They’re great for the lawn.
The leaves kill the lawn. Maybe some prefer a green dormant lawn vs. a muddy mess…
I’ve cleaned the street gutter across from my house of the huge leaves from the trees the neighbors had planted on the berm. I’ve done this every year for the past 25 years, and do so multiple times a year.I have a corner house and have also cleared the 2 sewer drains across from my house for 25 years or more. These adjacent properties have changed ownership multiple times, and none of the new owners have ever cleaned the street curbs nor sewer drains.Also, SDOT street sweepers haven’t come to my streets for many, many years. Why not?SDOT / SPU need to run street sweepers down both sides of 35th Ave SW from the King County border in Arbor Heights all the way to the Admiral & 35th Metro Transfer station. And they need to send sewer cleaners to suction out the drains. WHY? Because the leaves are from the trees planted on City governed berms. Their trees – their responsibility I’m tired out from providing free labor.
I’d gladly clean out all the gutters on my street, if that meant I could afford a house in West Seattle-first world problems.
I’m fine with clearing out the street drain which conveniently ends up right in front of our house but it’s up to EVERY neighbor with leaf-shedding trees to do their part in cleaning up after their trees. In the past two weeks it’s only been us cleaning up the clogged drain littered with leaves that fell from a number of trees that aren’t even in our yard. After today’s winds, our yard, driveway, sidewalk, car, and gutter were covered in piles of leaves and pine needles from trees in neighboring yards (we have one small tree that has already shed its leaves for the year). Last clean-up filled our green bin to the rim and there’s far more than that laying about this time around. Please be considerate and do your part to clean up after your own yards. We try to be respectful neighbors that regularly do our part for our street so how about a little appreciation by helping out?
Thank you for stating so clearly that everyone needs to pitch in and clear the curbs and sewer drains in their neighborhood so that rain water quickly drains away.
Keep in mind, with the wind, leaves don’t necessarily fall down but instead do get blown off and down the street. I’m sure leaves from your tree are on other people’s property. In you and your neighbors’ defense, leaves fall 24 hours a day and you can’t corral them all before they migrate for the winter.
I cleared the drains around my house after the rain cell a few weeks ago, I couldn’t believe the sucking sound after it started flowing, so loud!
Jeepers. Where’s the sense of community? Just do something good because it’s the right thing to do! Why not just take pride in a job well done?
You want to know why people don’t clean their street sewer drains? Because some people are tired. They worked all day. Maybe someone has a bad back, or a bad leg. Maybe they are getting a divorce, or a parent is dying. Maybe they think they pay taxes and they think the city should do it. Maybe they are old. Maybe someone is depressed. That is why people don’t clean their street sewer drains.
Everybody is tired, frustrated, overextended, etc. Helping to cover the gaps in our shared infrastructure so that we can maintain a higher standard of living, for everyone, despite the many excuses, is what makes a good community. Not everybody has to do the same job, though. If you’re passionate about civil engineering, or rake engineering, maybe do more than your share of the drain cleaning. Others can cover you on blackberry abatement. I think many would agree that there aren’t enough community volunteers these days to maintain the quality we expect in West Seattle. Personally, I’d rather see higher taxes and more city employees on the streets. Until then, I’ll take extra shares of litter cleanup.
During this season of falling I’ve literally raked all our leaves, have come back inside only to see our area covered in leaves again. Shedding isn’t a one time, one hour event, it started weeks ago has many weeks to go and happens 24hours a day.
The leaves are definitely a problem with the street sewer drains during torrential downpours. Driving to work last Saturday I noticed most of the street flooding (on my route) occurred in locations where SDOT performed road/sidewalk changes resulting in more water run-off. With the loss of greenspace resulting in a reduction of permeable soil, we will continue to experience increased standing water/flooding during downpours.
Our neighbor has a huge big-leaf maple. Most of its leaves fall in our yard. I spread them out for mulch and by the spring, I have a weed-free yard filled with nutrients. In the spring and summer, we get to enjoy the shade from the tree. Thank you, neighbors, for all the big trees.
The SDOT should send out a broom sweeper to sweep all the loose gravel back onto the shoulders out in Arbor Heights, and nearby areas, where we have NO sidewalks but lots of gravel shoulders. All that heavy rain washed a LOT of loose gravel onto the roads which can cause difficulty with stopping a vehicle.
I’m done cleaning up all the leaves and keeping the neighborhood looking good, the neighbors are very un appreciative of my hard work.. I’ll keep our own driveway clean, but thats it…
When the storm drain is clogged with leaves every time it rains, remember you should have kept to your self and let me be.
If you don’t have time for home/yard maintenance, then you should have bought a condo.
Why do we keep knocking down trees to plant new ones where it doesn’t make sense? Why aren’t we building around existing trees? Not only does it cause clogged drains, but it causes a plethora of other issues. The roots under the side walks come up and mess up the side walk making it dangerous for those with and without mobility aids.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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