Tennis Court Plan Opposed

Residents urged the City Council this week to reject a neighbor’s proposal to build two tennis courts and a luxurious two-story house that they claim would intrude on their privacy.

Because of the objections, the City Council Tuesday night postponed a decision on the tennis courts and house but gave the property owner, Thomas Q. Nicholson, permission to subdivide his 1.35-acre lot into two equal-size parcels.

Nicholson proposed building the two tennis courts, each with six 22-foot-high, 400-watt light fixtures along the sides. The courts would form an “L” and be visible from Patrician Drive, Sterling Avenue and Camden Circle.

“We’re doing everything we possibly can to do it as sensitively as possible,” Nicholson said. But his neighbors weren’t convinced. They said that the lighting on the tennis courts would illuminate the neighborhood and that the house, which would be nearly 27 feet high, could strip them of their privacy.

“If you put up 12 lights up there, it will look like a stadium,” said Charles Davis, one of the neighbors.

Another neighbor, Donna Jones, agreed. “I’m concerned about privacy. I’m concerned about noise and I’m concerned about the lighting,” she said.