Scottsdale, AZ Noise Ordinances: Leaf Blower Rules (2026)

Sec. 1, added by Ordinance No. 3775 in 2008, targets one specific practice: blowing yard debris into the street rather than bagging it or blowing it back onto the property being serviced. It does not set operating hours or a decibel limit for gas blowers; the prohibition is limited to blowing landscape waste into the public roadway, both terms defined in Sec. 18-2. Leaf blower means any device that generates a stream of air designed or used to move landscape waste or litter, and landscape waste means dirt, dust, sand, stones, excavation material, leaves, landscape clippings, severed plant growth or other material resulting from landscape installation or maintenance.

Public roadway is defined as the part of a street used or intended for use by the general public for motor vehicles, so the ban reaches asphalt travel lanes rather than sidewalks, alleys or private drives. The rule sits inside the same land-maintenance chapter that already requires owners and occupants to keep land free of litter, debris and blight under Sec. 18-9(a), so a landscaper who blows clippings into the street can also expose the property owner to a separate maintenance violation if the debris is not cleared.

Enforcement follows Chapter 18's general framework: the city manager or designee, code inspectors or Scottsdale police officers can enforce the section under Sec. 18-15, a notice to abate under Sec. 18-70 can require correction, and each day the debris remains in the roadway is a separate offense under Sec. 18-13.