By Kerri Williams

WESTPORT – In its third meeting on the topic, the Planning & Zoning Commission heard from concerned neighbors and a lighting expert on Monday about a proposal for adding permanent lighting to two athletic fields in town.

The commission also received an updated presentation from Erik Barbieri, director of Parks & Recreation, who submitted the request for lighting at PJ Romano field on Riverside Avenue and Wakeman B field on North Avenue.

The hearing was unanimously continued until July 20, when P&R officials will have another chance to address the latest concerns. 

The most important slide of his talk, according to Barbieri, depicted a graph showing a steady increase in athletic field use and participation. Adding lights would allow for youth to play further into the evening and open more scheduling slots for both games and practices, he said. The town website has received more than 100 letters in favor of the lighting.

But neighbors of Wakeman Field came into the hearing already upset following a large lacrosse tournament played at the field last weekend that they said was very noisy and disruptive.

“This weekend was an unmitigated disaster,” said Gary Trief of Whippoorwill Lane. “And they are asking for more stuff to oversee.”

Neighbors are concerned that the noise will carry over into the evening hours that the fields would be in use. Eric Lowenthal, another neighbor abutting the Wakeman B Field, said his biggest concern about adding lights is the noise from games.

Lowenthal compared game noise, which he said is up to 95-100 decibels, to a power saw. “Would anyone want that in their neighborhood until 9 at night, five days a week?” he asked. He suggested that the time under the lights be limited to practices, which would produce less noise for neighbors.

Also speaking out on Monday was attorney Joel Green, who said he represents a group called “Lights Need Limits” of 100 households in town. Green said that the lighting plans do not meet the P&Z zoning regulation 32-19, which states that a photometric plan and a landscape plan must be submitted for all field lighting proposals.

“There is no landscape plan, none at all,” Green said.

But P&Z Chairman Paul Lebowitz said that the application included both plans, adding that the department is very thorough in making certain that all applications meet the requirements. At the end of the meeting, Lebowitz asked the P&R Department to consider returning with more landscaping information on July 20.

Green also introduced lighting expert Leo Smith, who said he believes the lighting poles could be lowered and the intensity of the lights reduced without compromising safety of players. 

The current plan calls for four 70-foot poles at each field, although Barbieri that the department would be willing to consider six 60-foot poles.

In his presentation, Smith related three “reasonable conditions” that would minimize adverse effects of the lights for neighbors. Those include lowering the pole mounting height to 50 feet, requiring 20 footcandle horizontal illumination, and specifying that the correlated color temperature not exceed 3,000 Kelvin. A footcandle is a unit of measurement that describes the intensity of light reaching a surface.

The proposal calls for 50.7 footcandle, according to Smith, which he said is higher than what is necessary for the athletes to safely play. Higher levels of lighting are necessary for spectators to see better and for better broadcast and streaming colors, he said.

In describing the lights during his presentation, Barbieri said they would have a low glare and be much more efficient than those used in the past. 

Players that would benefit from the extended field time include the Staples High School soccer teams and lacrosse teams, both boys and girls, as well as Police Athletic League lacrosse, soccer, football, and rugby. Westport Soccer Association travel and rec soccer would also benefit, according to Barbieri.

The current plan calls for play under the lights until 9 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

At least one neighbor, who said he is the second closest to the Wakeman B Field, said he supports the lighting plan. John Sabino, who has been a coach for over a decade, said he “sat outside all weekend” and was not bothered by the lacrosse tournament there, adding that he would much prefer that youth be outside playing on the weekends than using their phones.

“The benefits for the children far outweigh any concerns about (lighting) the fields,” Sabino said, urging the commission to look at the broader picture.

Kerri Williams

^{_{Kerri Williams is an award-winning writer and journalist. She has worked as a reporter at the Norwalk Hour, as Living editor at the Darien News-Review, and managing editor for the Norwalk Citizen-News. For Westport Journal, she is a reporter as well as a gardening columnist, writing “Cultivating with Kerri.” She recently published her first children’s book – “Mabel’s Big Move,” based on her daughter with special needs.}}