ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE RESOLUTION ON
BATTERY OPERATED GARDENING EQUIPMENT:
-7/13/25
A RESOLUTION OF THE ENVIRONMANTAL PROGRAMS COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF
ATHERTON CALLING FOR THE TOWN TO IMPLEMENT A TRIAL PROGRAM AT HOLBROOK PALMER PARK TO EVALUATE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT (POLLUTION & NOISE, ETC.),
HEALTH AND APPEARANCE CHANGES OF THE GRASS, SHRUBS AND OTHER PLANTS AND
THE ECONOMIC RESUTS OF USING BATTERY OPERATED GARDENING/LANDSACPING
EQUIPTEMENT AS SUBSITUTES FOR, OR ADDITIONS TO THE CURRENT GAS POWERED EQUIPMENT.
WHEREAS, the Town is committed to reducing the environment impact of gardening/landscaping as part of the Town’s Climate Action Plan, and WHEREAS, the Town has recently shown leadership in successfully replacing noisy and polluting gasoline leaf blowers with battery-operated leaf blowers, and WHEREAS, the Town has investigated the commercial viability and availability of many other types of battery-operated gardening/landscaping equipment, and WHEREAS, the gasoline driven equipment used for lawnmowers, trimmers, cutters, saws, etc. produce large amounts of pollution and noise in Atherton, and WHEREAS the EPC is committed to recommending ways to improve the Town’s environmental footprint in a prudent manner that balances performance with economic costs and benefits, and
WHEREAS the Town’s 22-acre Holbrook Palmer Park is a multifaceted landscape that uses many types of gardening/landscaping equipment, and
WHEREAS the Park is large enough and diverse enough to enable a selected area for a trial of using alternative battery-operated gardening/landscaping equipment, and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the EPC request the Town Council to establish a suitable trial in the park to determine the technical, environmental and economic impact of using battery operated equipment for all appropriate gardening/landscaping tasks, and Further:
1) The trial should involve the EPC in determining the equipment and applications at the park.
2) Atherton residents should be invited to observe appropriate segments of the trial to enable them to determine if they should adopt more battery-operated equipment.