Should the Village End Leaf Vacuuming? What Do You Think?

In 2021 the Village adopted new laws that banned the use of leaf blowers from May 1 to September 30 and limited their use to weekdays during October, November and December. That was just one change recommended in an April 22, 2021 report from the Scarsdale Forum’s Sustainability, Municipal Services and Climate Resilience Committee on gas leaf blowers, leaf vacuuming and leaf mulching in the Village of Scarsdale.

At the time, the committee also recommended eliminating all fall leaf vacuuming conducted by the Village. Now that proposal, eliminating leaf vacuuming, is being considered as a part of the 2022-23 Village budget discussions. The matter will be reviewed at a February 16, 2022 work session of the Village Board.

Why does the Forum recommend the suspension of leaf vacuuming?

According to their report, the reasons are many.

In short:

-The Forum contends that leaf piles are hazardous for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians who have to navigate around them. Furthermore, “Wet leaves on road surfaces can make stopping difficult, and piles of leaves can obscure potholes, black ice, curbs and street markings. Leaves create slippery conditions after it rains or snows.”

-Leaf pile clog storm drains and block fire hydrants: “Storm water drains and street catch basins become blocked by leaves that impede the flow of water, causing back-ups and maintenance issues…. Leaves also block access to fire hydrants.

-Animal feces and litter are deposited in the leaf piles.

-Leaf vacuuming trucks are noisy and disperse polluting and unhealthy emissions of chemicals and particulate.

-Wet leaf piles grow mold.

How do they propose that leaves be treated? The Forum suggests that residents receive education about the benefits of mulch mowing, where leaves are shredded by lawn mowers and left on the lawn as fertilizer. If that is not feasible, they are asking the Village to require residents to bag their leaves and leave them at the curb for pick-up or transport them to the transfer station.

With planning for the 2022-23 Village budget in process, the Village asked the Department of Public Works to analyze the Forum’s recommendation and to come up with a point of view and cost analysis of replacing leaf vacuuming with pick-up of bagged leaves.

You can see the analysis below.

According to the slide below, the Department of Public Works recommends retaining the existing leaf vacuuming program rather than picking up bagged leaves weekly.

Essentially, they are saying that if the vacuuming program ends, the cost to dispose of the leaves will be transferred to private homeowners. Their analysis shows that if the Village ends the program they estimate that about 20% of homeowners will mulch mow, leaving another 4,800 to bag and transport their leaves. At a cost of $220 per year per property, the burden would shift $1,000,000 in expense to private homeowners who either cannot mulch mow or pay their landscapers to bag and transport the leaves.

According to their analysis, the Village would save $239,870 in labor costs, but the department would reassign those staffers to other tasks within the Department of Public Works, so there would be no actual dollar savings.

When the proposal was discussed in 2014-15, there were objections to the elimination of the program from people who rake their own leaves and felt they could not handle the additional burden and from others who live on smaller lots where there was not enough space to disperse mulched leaves. Others simply saw it as a cut in services.

On the issue of enforcement, it was not clear what would happen if landscapers or homeowners failed to comply and left leaf piles on the street. Would they be fined and who would dispose of the piles?

As an alternative, would it be possible to offer at incentive to those who bag or mulch their leaves rather than penalizing those who do not?

If you have views on leaf vacuuming please post comments below or email us at scarsdalecomments@gmail.com and we will post them below.

Diana Thulin said, "The challenges raised in 2014-2015 have not changed. The DPW has it right. We have had many other cost increases.. As far as leaf piles in the road, owners should be fined for creating a hazard. We shouldn't need to use taxpayer funds to reward appropriate behavior.