Residents who live near Lake Forest Academy voiced their concerns about a proposed master plan that includes new dormitory construction and upgrades to athletic fields.
The residents described to Lake Forest and school officials issues that might arise should the plan be put into place during a Feb. 22 meeting of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals. Lake Forest Academy is looking to build three new dormitories and six to 10 faculty homes, demolish an existing dormitory and house and add more paved parking areas, according to documents supplied at the meeting.
Lake Forest encourages schools and other institutions to periodically update their master land use plans so the community is aware of potential projects, according to city documents.
The plan also includes constructing an athletic fieldhouse and a new athletic field, replacing natural turf with artificial turf on two fields, adding lighting to playing fields and tennis courts, constructing spectator seating and adding a solar-powered scoreboard to the baseball field.
Lake Forest Academy wants to modernize its campus and keep up with peer schools, said John Strudwick, head of school.
“We want to be competitive with those other schools so we can attract the best students and faculty,” said Bill Dolbee, associate head of school.
This is the first time the private school has presented its master plan to the city, said Cathy Czerniak, community development director.
JoAnn Desmond is president of the Academy Woods homeowners association, a subdivision to the east of campus. She said residents had been generally supportive of past projects on the campus, but “were now living with the resulting negative impact” from the previous master plan, which was approved in 2005, according to city documents.
Desmond offered a list of projects that could impact neighbors, including constructing lights at athletics fields, building an electronic scoreboard for the baseball field and constructing overflow parking behind homes in what is currently a non-parking area.
Seventeen residents testified after Desmond, offering their own objections.
The landscape buffer is “pretty skimpy now,” said Nancy Coolley, who also spoke about noise from sporting events and strangers walking around residents’ homes.
Jeff Whitnell said that rental of the baseball field has led to strangers who “frequently trespass onto our property.” He then showed a photo featuring piles of baseballs on a screen and said more than 130 balls have ended up in his backyard over the years.
Tom Sarsfield said since a previous parking lot was installed on campus, he’s seen an increased amount of water drain into the street and then onto his property. He asked for a water management study by the city before any construction is permitted.
Janice Lasky expressed concerns over increased traffic on Academy Drive if athletic or other facilities on campus are rented out.
Both the city and residents commissioned their own traffic studies that are currently being reviewed by the city engineer, Czerniak said.
After the residents spoke, zoning board member Jay Kennedy asked if the school intended to rent out the new athletic facilities.
“The facilities in the last campaign are primarily used by students for school purposes,” Strudwick said.
Mike Schell, board chairman of Lake Forest Academy, said the school last met with residents on Feb. 13, though he added, “it was not a terribly productive meeting.”
“It seems like the sides are far apart and there hasn’t been much communication,” said zoning board member Richard Plonsker.
At the end of the three-hour meeting, the zoning board asked for more details from the school on the various projects.
Dolbee said that school officials will continue to meet with residents.
“We’re glad that everybody had a chance to share their perspective,” Dolbee said. “As the process goes forward, we’ll have a chance to address those concerns and provide information.”
The proposed master plan will come back to the zoning board, though Czerniak said a date has not been set. The zoning board will then pass along a recommendation to the City Council, which will ultimately decide on the master plan.
If the plan is approved, school officials would still need to submit individual construction projects to the city for approval.
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