Dozens of people, including many local landscapers and contractors, crowded into the Barrington Town Council meeting on Monday night, Nov. 6, voicing concerns about a proposed policy that would create restrictions on the use of gas-powered lawn equipment in town. 

The Barrington Resilience and Energy Committee drafted the policy and recommended it to the Council. But after listening to the concerns, Council members voted unanimously to send the policy back to the Resilience and Energy Committee for more work. 

Council members said they liked certain parts of the policy, such as incentivizing changes and educating people, but did not support the restrictions that were included.

The policy had called for the phase-out of gas-powered equipment by the town and contractors in Barrington by Jan. 1, 2026. It further called for a change to the town’s noise ordinance. The policy would restrict the time of day people could operate lawn equipment and it would place a seasonal ban on certain power equipment. 

Barrington Resilience and Energy Committee Chairman Magnus Thorson spoke in support of the policy. He said he empathized with small business owners — he added that he had been a small business owner while living in Vermont — and that there were resources available to help business owners with the change.

Thorsson also agreed that some of the electric-powered lawn equipment does not operate at the same level as gas-powered equipment yet. He tried to direct landscapers and contractors to read an article that he had shared on the town’s website, and also spoke about how Brown University had transitioned its grounds crew to electric equipment. 

Thorsson said he would love to work with contractors and help with the changes.

Tom Rimoshytus said most of Brown University’s athletic fields were made of synthetic turf, challenging the estimated acreage that Thorsson said the crews maintained with electric equipment. 

Rimoshytus also said Brown University had plenty of money to fund this type of equipment switch. 

Dave Butera, a contractor in town, said he has constructed electric-powered homes and believes the town should not mandate the changes. He said a better approach would be to offer tax breaks to those who switch from gas-powered to electric-powered. Butera said that approach would be better.

Council member Kate Berard said she did not want to completely abandon the policy but opposed the mandates that were included in it. Later in the discussion, Berard made a motion to refer the policy back to the Barrington Resilience and Energy Committee. Council member Annelise Conway seconded the motion, and included an amendment further removing the restrictions. 

The motion passed 4-0. 

The town manager’s memo to the Council had recommended that the proposal be forwarded to the Planning, Building and Resilience Department for evaluation and recommendation as part of the town’s development of a Climate Action Plan.