By Kerri Willliams

WESTPORT – In what promises to draw comments both for and against, the Planning & Zoning Commission is scheduled to continue its public hearing about adding lighting to two town athletic fields on Monday.

The remote meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., with a Zoom link on the agenda for members of the public who would like to speak. The meeting also will be broadcast on the town website.

During the meeting, Erik Barbieri, director of Parks and Recreation for the town, who submitted the request, is expected to address some concerns about the proposal via a new presentation. Barbieri had said that the presentation was not quite ready for the June 22 P&Z meeting and asked for a continuation until tonight.

The plan to add permanent lights to PJ Romano field on Riverside Avenue and Wakeman B field on North Avenue has drawn hearty attention, with more than 100 emails to the town website in favor of the lights.

Those in favor have said that there are currently not enough athletic fields to support town program use and that the extra hours of lighting would help alleviate a growing problem. One of the letters from Loewe Epstein, a student athlete at Staples High School, refers to a petition he started regarding the Wakeman lights that has a total of 370 signatures in favor.

But some emails, including one filed just this morning by a neighbor to the Wakeman field, have brought up concerns that range from the scale of the project to the landscaping buffer, to neighborhood impact during the added hours that the fields would be in use. 

In a three-page letter that was not yet on the town website Monday morning, Shelby Keefer, a neighbor to Wakeman fields, said she has “deep concerns” about the plan. 

“Proponents have pointed to the number of emails in support of lights and tried to paint opposition as just upset neighbors,” Keefer said, which she alleges is false. Opponents of adding the lights, she said, run the gamut between wildlife experts concerned about migration patterns to parents “who can’t imagine having their kids on the sports field until 10 p.m.” Opponents also have cited concerns about added traffic and noise in the evenings.

The proposals for lighting the fields came after the P&Z adopted Text Amendment 850 in February 2025, which amended the zoning regulations to permit permanent lighted athletic fields on town-owned, public-school property. Currently, the town has three lit athletic fields – permanent lights at the Greens Farms Elementary softball field and at Staples Stadium and temporary lighting at PJ Romano Field.

The P&Z Department has stated that the current proposals appear to comply with the requirements of the town zoning regulations, including setbacks, pole height and lighting design. Incorporated into the design are measures to minimize impacts on surrounding properties, including down-directed LED fixtures. According to the department comments, the installation of lighting will improve visibility for athletic activities, thereby enhancing safety.

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.}}