Photo: Leaf blowers will be discussed at a public meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 (Credit: Wolfmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Belmont Select Board returns to the contentious debate on placing limits on what many believe is a necessity and others a scourge of suburban life – leaf blowers.

The board will once again hold a public form on a proposed bylaw to control the use of leaf blowers on Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.

Want to join the fun? Here’s the contact links.

“I’ve had several requests of from people in recent months to revisit the subject,” said Adam Dash, chair of the board. Dash noted the last time the subject came before the members it “sort of yielded a Balkanized response about what to do with anything.”

The pro bylaw side says commercial portable leaf blowers cause pollution beyond their size while destroying quiet mornings and evenings by being so dang loud. The status quo is the gas-driven machines are the most effective method of moving leaves in a town with as many trees as people.

The meeting will help decide if the board will present a bylaw before the annual town meeting in May.