| | Published March 13th, 2013
| Town Council Supports Lights Out Early at SMC
| | By Sophie Braccini | | |
An energetic crowd composed of students, faculty and staff from Saint Mary's College came to the Moraga Town Council meeting Feb. 26 to defend their claimed right to shine lights on the intramural sports field after 9 p.m. Despite their impassioned pleas, which they supported with legal arguments, to leave the lights on until 10 p.m. the council voted 3-2 to support a previous decision requiring the college to turn off the lights at 9 p.m. to reduce noise impacts on neighbors.
At press time, Saint Mary's had not indicated whether it will pursue legal action against the town, continue discussions with its neighbors to mitigate the impacts of noise and lights, or just abide by the council's decision.
Over a dozen speakers affiliated with the college, including students, staff and faculty, lined up to ask the town council to overturn the Moraga Planning Commission's decision to roll back the operating hours from 10 to 9 p.m. after residents complained. "Having to plan for all the intramural activity when the field was lit until 10 p.m. was hard," explained Marty Storti, the administrator in charge of scheduling the field, "but having one less hour has had an impact, especially on some teams like the softball league."
The student speakers did not understand why the town would not support their desire to use the field at night for what they said is a significant part of their college experience. "The intramural field is where you build a sense of community," said Marysol Lenel. Other students called it a matter of student health and expressed disappointment with the town.
Michael Beseda, vice president for college communications, went a step further saying, "The college will take your decision as a significant indication of whether you embrace the college or not and as an important measure of whether or not (the college) grows in a way that is vital for the town."
Residents in the neighboring Bluffs and Fernwood Drive areas explained the disturbance the college's noise was creating in their family lives. "The noise does travel up the hill," said Danielle Genestro, a mother of two young children. "It is disturbing to hear it inside our homes at night." David Gow said, "It's a question of being good neighbors. Good neighbors don't have nightly noisy activities, good neighbors don't shine bright lights into each other's homes." Frank Comprelli said that the college had been using "smoke and mirrors" in an attempt to avoid solving the problem with its neighbors.
Some residents came in support of the lights, like Shanette Westphal who pointed out that what is noise to some people is music to others.
The decision to change the operating hours was based on a March 2011 ruling that reads in part: "If residents adjacent to the college file complaints with the Town Planning Department with regard to noise from players on the field at night, the problem will be investigated. If the problem with noise continues, the hours of operation of the lights can be reduced to 9:00 p.m. by the planning staff."
The college's legal counsel claimed that the college had been granted the right to operate the lights until 10 p.m. and that the conditions required to roll back the hours had not been met. He particularly challenged the way the investigation of the noise nuisance had been made, since no measurements were taken.
The town's attorney indicated that the town followed its normal procedure when complaints are filed. Town Manager Jill Keimach explained that the planning commission session and its ruling were part of the investigation and the planning director's actions were in keeping with town's practice in residential neighborhoods.
Mayor Dave Trotter and council members Roger Wykle and Phil Arth supported the town staff's recommendation to deny the college's appeal. Council member Mike Metcalf and vice mayor Ken Chew dissented.
"The 'Town and Gown' relationship is very important," said Metcalf, therefore, "I would be inclined to grant the college its appeal." But he scolded SMC and asked it to think about the way it treats its neighbors. In supporting the appeal, Chew said that the investigation was not sufficient and that the ruling was an attempt to appease a few residents while sacrificing 2400 students. "Noise is good," he concluded.
Although voting to deny the appeal, Trotter said that he continued to be a supporter of the college and would certainly look favorably on the next phase of the college's expansion. Arth claimed reluctant support for denying the appeal and suggested that the college look into re-engineering the old football field to increase the amount of intramural field space available to students. Wykle, who was a planning commissioner when the hours were rolled back, said the college had ample time to remedy the situation.
Beseda commented after the meeting that he was deeply disturbed, if not flat out angry, by the town's decision. "The town leadership clearly does not understand the needs of a college in a contemporary setting," he said. "The students also were shocked, we all felt that we were not being heard." SMC is still considering all of its options, including legal proceedings, according to Beseda.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA