To the Editor:

This past week, I narrowly avoided a car accident on Snowden Lane. A massive leaf pile obstructed my lane near a bend in the road. A car came round the curve just as I pulled into the oncoming lane to avoid the illegal leaf pile. I hit the brakes, and was nearly rear-ended by a car following too close behind.

I reported the road hazard to the police, and also to Princeton’s compliance officer, hired two years ago. The leaf pile was soon pushed back to the 3-foot limit from the curb. Danger averted, one might say, but an accident almost happened, and hours of town staff time were used to deal with one leaf pile.

Violations are rampant around town, with many piles extending 8 feet or more into the pavement, causing cars to swerve and pushing bicyclists out into traffic. The compliance officer’s job is time-consuming and nearly impossible. Warnings are necessary even for repeat offenders, and fines are insufficient to change behavior.

There are other downsides to loose piles of leaves in the street, paramount among them being the hideous din of gas-powered leaf blowers that can ruin an otherwise glorious autumn day. Princeton’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers is only seasonal, lifted for two months in spring and fall.

This fall, I’ve been acutely aware of a stark contrast between nature preserves and residential areas in how leaves are managed. At Herrontown Woods, leaves are a gift, each subtly different in shape and color, falling where they may to recycle nutrients and protect the ground through the winter. But as I work there, I can hear the
unrelenting drone of a war on leaves coming from town. In neighborhoods, custodial crews tasked with enforcing hyper simplicity and neatness strip properties of every last leaf, depositing them in huge piles on the streets.

Sustainable Princeton calls these loose street pilings “the least sustainable option,” and lists the many alternatives available, among them mulch mowing, leaf corrals, and containerized collections. But it is a mistake to imagine that more education will get us anywhere. Undermining that education is town policy, which continues to allow
and enable “the least sustainable option.” Real education will begin after the town bans loose pilings and the gas-powered leaf blowers that create them, combined with improved containerized collection. Then, and only then, will homeowners and landscapers learn to adopt the many solutions waiting all along.

In the movie Groundhog Day, the main character is destined to live the same day over and over until he finally gets it right. I’m afraid Princeton is caught in its own version of Groundhog Day, as we suffer through the same raucous, hazardous, costly purging year after year.

Among the many beneficiaries of change will be the landscape crews who, relieved of heavy exposure to fumes and high decibels, will no longer feel obligated to spend two deafening hours blowing wet leaves from the backyard out into the street.

Steve Hiltner
North Harrison Street