A move seen as diluting a neighborhood advisory group has reignited the anger originally sparked in 2004, when Highland Park High School was given permission to install lights at its football field.
Along with a request to increase the number of lighted events at Wolters Field, Township School District 113 asked the city last month to eliminate the neighborhood advisory group — a request that was dropped after residents bitterly opposed the concept. District 113 now wants to decrease the group’s number of annual meetings and to rewrite its mission statement.
The actions were not well received by many of those living near the field.
“I think they need to be better neighbors, truthfully,” said neighbor Kevin Fassett, who supported the divisive 2004 lights request by Township High School District 113, but has since become disillusioned with its handling of the facility.
Like some of their Chicago counterparts who live near Wrigley Field, Highland Park residents near Wolters Field say district officials have gone out of bounds with attempts to alter the lights agreement.
“They’ve been trying to peel it back for years,” said David Greenberg, a neighbor and member of the Wolters Field Advisory Group.
There was a contentious and polarizing debate in 2004 when the city gave District 113 permission to install 70-foot light poles at Wolters Field, which sits nestled alongside residential neighborhoods. The agreement allowed for 25 night events at the stadium that first school year, increasing to 45 in 2006-07.
One victory for neighbors at the time was the creation of an 11-member Wolters Field Advisory Group to review the impact of the lights, work directly with the school and make recommendations to the City Council for mitigation.
Now the district is seeking changes to the 2004 special use agreement — increasing the number of total lighted events to 60 and changing the parking regulations for the site to allow vehicles to park on grass along Park Avenue West. But the recommendation that outraged neighbors was a proposal to eliminate the advisory group.
“That caught a lot of us off-guard,” Greenberg said. “We never talked about that.”
Neighbors say the group provides a forum where they can bring a host of issues to the attention of school, police and city officials, who also attend the meetings. The stadium lights and public address system at Wolters Field has generated complaints about noise, access, illegal drinking, and, of course, bright light shining through residential windows.
“We had essentially fulfilled the mission of the advisory group and the mission, really as it’s written, is really primarily around sound at lighted events, and lights,” said District 113 School Board President Marjie Sandlow. “There are a lot of ancillary neighborhood issues, beyond just those, so we’ve come to realize there is still a need for a neighborhood group.”
After presenting the concept of disbanding the advisory group at a May 7 city Plan Commission meeting, which drew immediate opposition from neighbors, the district withdrew the concept. Instead, officials propose cutting the number of annual meetings from three to two and rewriting its mission statement.
The current charter says the group would “review the impact, if any, that the use of the Lights may have on the neighborhood … and make recommendations to the City Council for the mitigation of any such impacts.”
The proposed language says the city and school district “will thoughtfully consider all issues and concerns presented to the Wolters’ Field Advisory Group.”
“That’s totally diluted,” said Anne Helander, another neighbor who is on the Advisory Group, and who wasn’t aware of the proposed language until interviewed recently by the Tribune.
City Councilman Tony Blumberg, liaison to the Plan Commission, said the district is seeking to “actually expand the responsibilities of that board” by allowing it to consider more topics than before.
Helander interprets the district’s attempt to reduce the number of Advisory Group meetings as saying, “you’ll just be a bunch of goofballs in a room and we’re going to do what we’re going to do.”
Regardless, Sandlow said many of the neighbors’ objections and problems could be addressed through better communication with the district.
“One of the things that we’re going to have to make clearer is how the citizens can contact us when it’s not a meeting time or something’s going on in the field,” Sandlow said, referencing one neighbor’s complaints about loud music during afternoon practices.
“These are the things we need to know and can easily take care of them,” she said. “We try to be good responsive neighbors.”
The special use permit now allows 39 lighted events — 32 that must end by 10:30 p.m. and seven “twilight events” that end by 7 p.m.
The district is asking for a total of 60 lighted events, including eight that end by 10:30 p.m., another eight that end by 9:30 p.m., and 44 twilight events that would end by 8 p.m. It also requests allowing lights to stay on for 30 minutes after the conclusion of events to accommodate games that go into overtime.
The agreement, Sandlow said, would also allow the district to use lights for team practices, rather than the current rules that they only be used for games.
“It’s more events, but it’s fewer events until the 9:30 or 10:30 time,” she said.
When the lights were originally installed, Wolters Field had a grass surface that has been changed in recent years to a synthetic turf, which increases its usability.
“Now we can use it at all times,” said Sandlow, adding that the district wants to use the turf for double practices on some spring or fall days — at both 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Neighbors, like Greenberg, recognize that Wolters Field has undergone significant changes, but that the additional activity is not what neighbors expected.
“They’re basically trying to maximize the use of the field, which is not what the original ordinance was about,” he said.
The district also wants to play music from the stadium’s public address system for 20 minutes at the beginning of each practice. Jeff Gilbert said he and his wife work from home, and the blasts of sound are untenable.
“It’s just like having your neighbor crank up their stereo with the speakers pointed right at you,” Gilbert said.
Fassett said that since the lights were installed, the gravel road that divides his yard from the football field has become an after-hours destination for young couples. Neighbors now refer to it as “Lovers Lane,” and Fassett said he’s discovered beer and liquor bottles in the tiger lillies along his fence line — and worse.
“My dog has thrown around used condoms in the backyard, and I didn’t even know what it was and I took it away from him and … it was nasty,” Fassett said.
“I love the lights. I love the football team. I would never have bought this house in front of the field if I wasn’t a big supporter,” said Fassett, who hosts backyard barbecues for his neighbors during Friday night home games so people can watch the action from his deck, which is along the field’s 20-yard line. “It’s an event. It’s a happening. And it’s awesome — it’s great for the community. I just think the school district is just trying to take advantage.”
District 113’s request for an amendment to its special use permit for the site is scheduled to be discussed at the June 18 Plan Commission meeting, where the panel is expected to make a recommendation to the City Council for final approval.
Township School District 113 is seeking several changes to the special use permit it was given in 2004 before it erected lights at Wolters Field to allow night games.
Parking
District 113 is looking to remove a prohibition of parking on grass areas at Wolters Field, which officials say would create an additional 172 spaces, saving people from having to park across the street in the Highland Park Country Club lot.
The district is also seeking to allow school buses to remain parked on the property during football games, which is currently prohibited. The District spends $1,000 per game to pay drivers to move the buses for each event, according to School Board President Marjie Sandlow.
Lighted Events
The district is asking for a total of 60 lighted events per year, including eight that end by 10:30 p.m., eight that end by 9:30 p.m., and 44 “twilight” events that would end by 8 p.m. It also requests allowing the lights to stay on for 30 minutes after the conclusion of events to accommodate games that go into overtime.
Currently, the special use permit allows 39 lighted events — 32 that must end by 10:30 p.m. and seven twilight events that end by 7 p.m.
Advisory Group
The original District 113 request sought to eliminate the Wolters Field Advisory Group — an 11-member panel that includes five neighboring residents, along with representatives of the school, city and police department. After a May 7 meeting with the Plan Commission, in which residents objected, the district rescinded the recommendation and instead is asking to reduce the number of annual meetings from three to two and to rewrite the group’s charter. Another move by the district, to establish the City Council and School Board representatives as the group’s chairs, was also opposed by residents who prefer it to remain a position elected by the panel.
