PANELISTS DELAY LEAF BLOWER BAN : GAS-DRIVEN DEVICES GET 4-MONTH REPRIEVE.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles City Council postponed on Tuesday the date when an ordinance banning gasoline-powered leaf blowers will take effect from March 1 to July 1, giving gardeners and the lawn industry four extra months to prepare for the ban.

On an 11-1 vote, with Councilman Joel Wachs dissenting, the council changed the effective date of the proposed ban at the last minute, which means final approval must wait at least a week so that council can give the ordinance a final reading in public as required by law.

The switch by the council after more than a month of debate on the issue came after Councilman Hal Bernson said he felt the outright ban that was to take effect March 1, 1997, was a move in the wrong direction.

``What are we going to do next? Ban lawn mowers?'' Bernson asked. ``This doesn't deal with the real problems of the noise and the dust being blown all over.''

Bernson originally wanted to create a one-year grace period, but was persuaded to cut it to July 1 by Councilman Marvin Braude, who had called for the tougher ban on the use of the blowers within 500 feet of any residence.

Braude convinced Bernson to go along with the change, saying it would accomplish what both were seeking in controlling the noise and dust from the blowers.

The measure still would allow electric leaf blowers. Vacuum devices also would be allowed if they are quieter than 45 decibels. Normal conversation produces 60 decibels of sound. Whispering produces 20 decibels.

``I don't even know if that is possible,'' Bernson said of the 45-decibel operation. ``But the industry said it needed time to look at this. This is giving them time.''

Fred MacFarlane, a spokesman for Stihl Inc., a Virginia-based manufacturer of gardening tools, said the industry welcomed the extra time, but believed it would be hard to get vacuum devices down to 45 decibels.

``The average commercial (vacuum) machine is now at about 120 decibels,'' MacFarlane said. ``The industry is always looking to make its machines quieter and will do its best, but it might not be possible as soon as the city wants.''

Also, he said, he believes many of the complaints about leaf blowers have been misplaced.

``The average lawn mower is about 80 decibels and those are probably in use longer than any leaf blower,'' MacFarlane said. ``Most leaf blowers are about 65 to 70 decibels.''

MacFarlane said other examples of noise in neighborhoods include chain saws with 110 decibels, garbage trucks at 85 decibels and jet airplanes at 90 decibels.

Also, he said, the city is not dealing at all with the issue of particulates that are blown in the air since it is still allowing electric leaf blowers.

The Los Angeles Basin is not in compliance with federal Clean Air Act limits on fine particles, which have been shown by medical studies to pose a health threat to the elderly and people with other respiratory ailments.

Braude said he came around to agree with the four-month extension on the leaf blower issue because it eventually will accomplish what he wants.

Braude said he felt that the council, once reluctant to pass such a ban, had come to realize the public support for his proposal.

``Look at the number of members who didn't speak on this,'' Braude said. ``That's a tip on where public sentiment was going.''

Bernson said his office had received a number of calls from the public complaining about the proposed ordinance, which would make both gardeners and homeowners liable for fines up to $1,000 after two warnings.

Other council offices said they have also been receiving more calls than normal on a city issue, but they were divided between those who believe the law is too onerous and unenforceable and others who supported the ban.

A third group questioned whether the city was being hypocritical, one council aide said, for exempting itself from laws it passes since the city gardeners and maintenance workers would be allowed to continue to use gas-powered blowers.

City officials have said their devices are used primarily at golf courses and large regional parks and not near residential areas from which the most complaints are received.