My Town: Shedding some light on lighting city parks

An issue which has surfaced numerous times in Poway is whether to light any of the various sports fields within our neighborhood parks.

During my service on the City Council I found parks to be an anomaly. To some, parks are lovely landscaped open space with acres of grass to be enjoyed. To others, they are the training grounds for future athletes and should be cordoned off into baseball, soccer or lacrosse fields and used to the maximum possible. To a third group, parks are an anathema, an intrusion into local neighborhoods that bring traffic, noise, crime and “outsiders.”

So, with so many varying attitudes towards parks, how has Poway, over the past 30 years, been able to expand its parks throughout the city and, for the most part, satisfy nearly everyone? The answer has been compromise.

When Valle Verde Park was proposed it was to have a full-sized softball field and a basketball court. Neighbors feared the noise of bouncing balls and huge crowds on game days so the basketball court was eliminated and softball usage was limited to practice sessions but no competition. When Silverset Park was proposed, similar limitations that took into account the impacts on the neighborhood were put in place and remain today. Lighting once proposed for Starridge Park was denied by the City Council.

The most controversial siting of a park during my tenure was the creation of the Aubrey Park softball fields. Though they may not all agree, numerous concessions were made to the neighborhood to lessen the park’s impact. Setbacks were increased, amenities added, playtime limitations enforced and no field lights. Since Old Poway Park, with its trains and multiple events and farmers market, was immediately adjacent to Aubrey Park, the two seemed a compatible mix. The only lighted sports fields on city land are at Lake Poway and Community Park and even they have time and use limitations.

In all of the instances I have listed and more that I do not have room for, the city, youth sports representatives and neighborhoods have been able to compromise and work out suitable arrangements for park usage.

And now we have Arbolitos Park, again! To light or not to light?

On Sept. 10, 1996, the City Council voted unanimously to build soccer fields on the detention basin floor and create Arbolitos Park. Neighbors had vehemently objected to the park’s creation but were willing to compromise as long as the fields were not lighted. The meeting’s minutes show that, to a person, each councilmember, including myself, and then-Mayor Higginson, stated that there should be no field lights. That was the agreement, the compromise.

A few years later, the sports leagues tried again and portable lights were used in a test. Again, the City Council unanimously said no to lights.

The promoters of lights and night-time park usage are back at it again. At the Sept. 7 council meeting, Mayor Higginson and councilmembers Cunningham, Kruse, and Mullin, will be asked to abrogate the long-standing compromise with the neighbors and light the Arbolitos soccer fields. (It is my understanding that councilmember Boyack will recuse herself.)

A compromise is “a settlement of differences by mutual concession.” Will the City Council ignore promises of the past when they know that one major player, the neighbors, are still opposed to lights and night-time sports? I hope not.

If the council reneges on the agreements of the past regarding the Arbolitos lights, what’s next? Lights at Valle Verde, Starridge, Silverlake, Garden Road, and Aubrey?

Emery retired from the City Council after serving 28 years. He can be reached at powaybob@cox.net.