As a city of Annapolis resident who takes pride in lawn aesthetics and supports the prosperity of local small businesses, I am deeply concerned by the seemingly hasty decision of the Annapolis City Council to ban gas-powered leaf blowers. This action is allegedly justified as a noise ordinance, but Alderman Savidge admitted it is truly designed for environmental regulation. However, our city council did not adequately consider all relevant aspects and presented a lack of comprehensive research before imposing this legislation. 

Not only does this ordinance inflict burdening costs on small landscaping businesses, but the equipment technology advancements also fall short of meeting the necessary standards for an environmentally friendlier alternative. This also significantly impacts numerous residents who are used to maintaining the beauty of their surrounding environment with these tools.

National Small Business Association observed that regulations such as this could cost small businesses more than $10,000 per employee in their first year of existence (source: NSBA's 2017 report), thus jeopardizing this critical sector of our economy.

Let's remind the Annapolis City Council that well-informed decision-making is key to their roles and ask them to operate in the interest of all affected parties. I urge you strongly to join me in calling for the repeal of this unreasonable noise ordinance. Unified, our voice can bring about change - sign our petition today.