Gardening policy

Dear Editor: The sounds of lawnmowers, weed-whackers and leaf-blowers are not music to anyone’s ears, especially if you work a night-shift and daytime sleep is important or if you have infants or elderly family members that depend on daytime sleep.

Peace and quiet is also important to the growing number of people who work from home. The diminished air quality is also a relevant concern as the smell of exhaust from the gas burning machines and the dust kicked-up by them often blows through windows.

Many people are faced with the hassle and annoyance of dealing with the loud and constant noises from gardeners’ machinery 3 to 5 times a week if the neighbors on each side and across the street have gardeners scheduled on different days.

There needs to be a balance between the needs of residents who require peace and quiet and the needs of those who take pride in caring for their yards. This balance could be achieved easily with a policy that prohibits gardeners from working on Sundays while it divides the city into two sections, North and South, allowing gardeners to use loud machinery from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the first 3 days of the week in the southern section and the remaining 3 days in the northern section or vice versa.

Such a policy would guarantee residents some comfort from knowing that they will have at least 3-4 consecutive days of peace and quiet.

Dan Chantre

Downey

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Published: Dec. 4, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 34