Piedmonters have heard the nightly explosions of late. Fireworks have been set off at and around Lake Merritt, especially on the weekend but even on weeknights.
The Piedmont Police Department has received complaints on the matter, but can’t really do much.
“It seems to all be occurring in Oakland,” Piedmont PD Captain Chris Monahan said. “We are getting calls, but have not found anything directly related to Piedmont. This does seem to be common as we get closer to July 4th.”
Piedmonters are not alone in wondering what’s up. Neighbors in Oakland have posted questions on the local Nextdoor blog, while Twitter and news from other cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago are registering similar complaints.
Gas leaf blowers
Although less incendiary, another common complaint in the week ending June 19 related to gas leaf blowers. They are illegal in Piedmont but complaints seem to have risen this year. Monahan said that might be connected to people being home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning more neighbors are hearing them.
“(Gas leaf blowers) are not allowed in our city per the city code,” he said. “We have issued numerous warnings and only seem to be getting minimal compliance. Because more people are home due to Covid, we have seen a rise in calls because the (gas leaf blowers) are bothersome, where otherwise the residents might be at work, school, etc.
“We have begun stepping up our outreach, education, enforcement and have prepared a letter that will be sent to the resident explaining the code to them when we encounter a violation on their property. We are hoping to bring these calls down to a much lower level.”
Police notify residents of protest caravan
On June 18, alerts were sent out regarding a caravan protest moving from Oakland to Piedmont. The protest was tracked in the log but no police actions were taken. Monahan explained that sending out alerts to residents is important but the department tries to find a balance.
“The city does go back and forth on using alerts,” he said. “We have found that different residents follow different medias, and sometimes multiple. Our goal is to over-inform in an effort to reach the largest number of people and have them realize what is going on vs. not knowing and calling 911.”
Have gas leaf blowers going with two next door neighbors. Reluctant to report them but hate the noise.
I feel the same way about gas driven leaf blowers- the smell and noise is enough to drive you crazy- and breathing that stuff in has to be dangerous to your health. Unfortunately, until there is a ban and enforcement, I’m afraid nothing will be done, in the same manner that joggers wearing masks is certainly not enforced here in Piedmont.