In June, the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) proposed that the Board of Supervisors consider the permanent discontinuation of the vacuum leaf collection service for 25,000 homes, affecting well over 50,000 residents, after the upcoming 2023-2024 winter season.  We respectfully request that Fairfax County and our Supervisors continue this fifty-year service and reform it as needed. Voters represented by Chairman Jeff McKay (At-Large),​ Andres Jimenez (Mason), ​James Bierman, Jr. (Dranesville District),​ Daniel Stork (Mt. Vernon District),​ Dalia Palchik (Providence District), and Rodney Lusk (Franconia District), all benefit significantly from this service. The earlier residents of those five Magisterial Districts asked for and agreed to pay the special Leaf Collection Tax that pays for this service and the present residents want it continued. Residents in the other four Districts do not pay this special tax and therefore would not be impacted by the service being terminated.

• While the DPWES has had problems managing this service, it is noteworthy that Arlington County, the City of Vienna, the City of Falls Church and the City of Alexandria all have managed to provide a vacuum leaf collection service and none of them are proposing to end this benefit that their residents strongly support. Among the many other Virginia jurisdictions offering vacuum leaf service are Richmond, Petersburg, Winchester, Williamsburg and Fredericksburg.
• The DPWES staff want to discontinue this long valued and environmentally sound program after their failure to provide consistent and reliably timed service. They have cited examples of what happens when the service is not undertaken on a timely basis and then remarkably suggested that those examples are reasons to simply end the service instead of correcting the management and operation of it. 
• Composting leaves, while manageable for properties in areas with less tree canopy is often not a viable option but for many households in these older districts with mature trees and massive tree canopies generate too many leaves to compost on-site. 
• Ending the vacuum leaf collection program will be detrimental to the environment as it will lead to bringing in myriad private contractors (American, Republic, etc.) whose trucks will come on alternate days blocking traffic and polluting the atmosphere much more than does the targeted, centralized system now in use by the County. Leaves left uncollected elevate threats to our storm drains and waterways, potentially exacerbating the ongoing issues that create problems in years with heavy winter rainfall. Lake Accotink has already been overwhelmed with silt and nutrients, of which leaves are a major component. All of the communities along Holmes Run and Lake Barcroft, as but one example, now get leaf service. The termination of that service will undoubtedly lead to a large increase in leaves in those bodies of water and into the larger Cameron Run watershed which feeds the Potomac River. The same would apply to other streams in our county. Numerous studies have shown that while some leaf-fall into water bodies is of course natural, those bodies will be damaged with excessive leaves. Another Virginia jurisdiction that offers vacuum leaf service is the city of Waynesboro whose website points out that keeping leaves out of the South River reduces nutrient loading in that body of water.
• Most homeowners will be forced to independently hire private vacuum and other leaf services creating increased truck traffic, noise and public safety concerns while greatly increasing homeowner costs. DPWES has previously prohibited the use of plastic bags, including biodegradable plastic bags which come in 40, 50 and even 60-gallon sizes and instead told Fairfax County residents they may only use 30-gallon compostable paper bags. Based on the size of the massive leaf piles now seen on our streets during the fall, we will end up with homes with enormous numbers of 30-gallon paper bags on the street while DPWES has also said they will only take 10 of them at a time. Additionally, what county trucks are going to be able to handle thousands of such paper bags? 

We, the undersigned, urge our County Supervisors to retain the vacuum leaf collection services for those communities now paying the Leaf Collection Tax at the level that makes the program self-supporting. 

Photo: courtesy of Larry Golfer

NOTE:  We are not accepting donations. No donations please. Change asks for your donations to push this petition out state-wide and nationally -- we do not need this to be done. THIS IS  A LOCAL ISSUE.  Please just sign the petition and as you do, it is sent to the inboxes of our County Supervisors who will determine this program's fate.  Let your voice be heard.