Field-lighting debate may figure in parks budget

A heated debate over whether to add more lighting to athletic fields at Costa Mesa’s Farm Sports Complex will likely spill over into a discussion tonight about what the city should budget for parks improvements next year.

The parks and recreation commission will consider a $14.3-million list of upgrades to streets, parks and buildings. The list includes $1 million to light two of the six fields at the Farm. Two fields already have lights.

Supporters of Costa Mesa youth sports are clamoring for more lighted athletic fields, but some residents who live near the Farm have complained that the added lights will shine into their yards and result in more noise, trash and other problems.

The parks commission’s capital improvements list is a part of the annual budget process. Staff members put it together based on maintenance needs and the commission’s requests, and it generally gets approved in its entirety by the commission and then the City Council, public services director Bill Morris said.

The money comes from various sources, such as state and federal grants for street improvements, park development fees paid by developers, and the city’s general fund

Because of the field-lighting issue, it’s not clear whether the whole list will pass smoothly from the commission to the council and then into the final budget, which the council votes on in June.

City staff members, some community members and the majority of the commission want the lights. Demand for field time consistently exceeds the supply, and Morris said the lights could add three hours a day of practice time during the winter months.

“From staff’s standpoint we believe it’s one of the large deficiencies in our recreation program at this point, not having enough fields, and particularly in wintertime for sports,” he said. “It gets dark so early, and none of the teams can get together before 5 o’clock to practice.”

But when the commission in March voted in favor of a field-lighting plan, it was in a 3-2 vote. Commission chairwoman Wendy Leece was one of the dissenters, and she hasn’t changed her mind.

Leece said that as she remembers it, when the city bought the Farm complex officials made an unwritten promise to residents that lights would only go on the two fields that have them now.

The city has also been looking for other fields and will continue to do so, she said, so it’s not like officials are ignoring the field shortage.

“Just because I vote against the lights does not mean I’m against kids playing soccer at night,” she said. “I just think that there’s got to be a better place” to install lights.

As a commissioner, Leece said, she has to weigh homeowners’ rights with those of athletes.

“I intend to side with the homeowners” in this case, she said.

Parks commissioner Byron De Arakal said he can’t find any record of a promise not to light more fields, and officials shouldn’t defer the needs of 4,000 kids for a handful of residents.

“Cities make decisions all the time that people don’t like, but they do them anyway for the greater good of the community,” he said.

Other noteworthy projects on the park projects list are $200,000 to study and design a second skate park for the city, and $180,000 to develop sports practice fields at the Fairview Developmental Center. A lease is still being hammered out with the state, which owns the center.

It’s not clear whether a majority of council members will support adding lights at the Farm, but De Arakal said those who vote against lights may find the youth sports community voting against them.

“The ? [American Youth Soccer Assn.] groups are really getting tired of having to fight this hard for things that seem naturally beneficial to the entire community,” he said.