P&Z Okays Staples Lights Application

By James Lomuscio

UPDATE The Westport Planning and Zoning Commission tonight (P&Z) approved permanent athletic field lights at Staples High School—a decades long, elusive goal as sports boosters and neighbors clashed.

Efforts to add lights to the Staples football field go back to at least 1978. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

At the same public hearing held in the Town Hall auditorium, Jim Marpe, vice chair of the Bord of Education, also sought a special permit and site plan approval for a permanent storage shed and scorer’s area for girls field hockey at Staples, located at 70 North Ave., in a triple-A residential zone.

The P&Z closed the public hearing early in the evening and voted to approve the lights and shed special permit and site plans at about 11 p.m., according to member Chip Stephens.

“We have come to a moment that’s at least 30 years in the making,” said Marpe, adding that night home games, which have eluded Staples football team, offer “an opportunity to create community.”

The school board’s site plan application follows a P&Z approval last November of a stipulation agreement involving neighbors who had filed suit in Stamford Superior Court more than two years ago, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Board of Education.

Under the approval, the four lights, two mounted on 80-foot poles and two on 70-foot ones, would be used only for September through December evening practices and eight playoff games. Sound and light runoff to neighbors would be monitored and reviewed by a four-member committee, two of them neighbors.

“A special review committee is being set up to monitor the situation,” stressed Town Attorney Ira Bloom. “We think the terms are good for the school system and the Parks and Recreation Department, and we think we have provided sufficient protections for the neighbors,” he added.

Andy Moss, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission, called the push to get lights at Staples “a long strange trip” that began in 1978, carrying over into the 1980s and 1990s and recent years, always with the same neighbor resistance.

It was not until July 9, 2009, however, that the P&Z approved text amendment 594 allowing permanent lighting for evening practice and Friday night games.

That approval, however, was quickly appealed to the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) by neighbors who argued the lights would spill over onto their homes and bring evening noise from practice and games.

On Sept. 9, 2009, the RTM upheld the amendment. Meanwhile. lead petitioners Anne and Edward Gill, had filed a court appeal Aug. 28. For the past two years, town officials and the plaintiffs have been working on a compromise.

“One thing no one can say is that we don’t support our kids when it comes to athletics,” Moss said. “But one thing we have not done is to give our kids the excitement of a home night game.”

Susie Im of nearby High Point Road spoke, noting that during some games “it sounds like a real big keg party.”

“If I do have a complaint how can my complaint be made?” she asked.

She was told that she could contact school officials or the Planning and Zoning Department, either of which will notify the review committee.

Andrew Dyjak of Musco Sports Lighting said that he would monitor the lights, which would go off 30 minutes after a game ended, to make sure there is no intrusion on neighbors.

“We at the Board of Education, having the direct responsibility, are absolutely committed to following those regulations,” said Marpe. “Can we guarantee someone will not make more noise than anticipated? The committee will address those issues.

“We have followed the letter and the spirit of the regulation and the agreement with the neighbors,” he added. “We take our relationship with our neighbors very seriously.”

At the same meeting Marpe also asked the P&Z to approve an application for an existing 12- by 6-foot shed used by girls field hockey. Approval legalizes the shed and electricity to it, as well as a ladder scoring system.

“This is something that’s good for our students, and our intent is use it responsibly, and to make girls field hockey and lacrosse equal to all our sports,” Marpe said.