WESTFIELD–The Roots Athletic Center, which has been under scrutiny for outdoor lighting that was not part of a site plan originally given to the planning board, will be visited by the planning board on Nov. 7.
The planning board decided on the visit after hearing testimony last night from several neighbors of the property, all of whom complained about either light or sound pollution, in addition to other complaints. The board had a public hearing about the property after it was found that the owner of the property, Roots Athletic Center, Inc., received two cease and desist letters regarding the lights that were put in that did not follow initial plans.
Roots lights from the McCarthy home vantage point, Oct. 21, unknown time.
The lights were installed to illuminate three outdoor soccer playing fields. Currently, there are 10 poles with two lights each on them. Altered plans, including those advertised online by the Roots Athletic Center, suggest that an additional lights will be put in. The lights currently sit between 30 and 35 feet high, and could reach a total of 40 lights.
Michael McCarthy, who lives next door to the property with his wife, Stephanie McCarthy, said that the lights are the biggest concern for the couple.
“We can’t really use the backyard,” he said. “If you try to sit outside the glare is incredible. The back bedroom is lit up, the living room is lit up, the master bedroom, the kitchen.
“It’s brighter than a full moon.”
Another nearby resident, Jennifer Connolly, who said she lives three houses away from the property, agreed with McCarthy on the issue of light pollution.
“I think it’s infringing on our backyard at night,” she said. “It’s like daylight all the time.”
Another neighbor, Joe Calderella, whose home is two houses away from the development, said that the lights don’t just affect his home–they affect the entire neighborhood.
“There’s nothing to block the lights and the neighborhood is lit up like a Christmas tree,” Calderella said.
But for neighbors, lighting wasn’t the only concern.
Image of the McCarthy home illuminated by the Roots lights on Oct. 21, unknown time.
Beth Keefe, who lives across the street from Connolly, said that safety is another issue.
“Our big concern is traffic on the road,” she said. “They don’t have enough off-street parking and now people can go up and down the street to find parking.”
Keefe said that this could lead to accidents from people leaving driveways, as well as due to the high rate of speed drivers travel at on the road. It is listed as 40 MPH in some places and residents at the meeting claimed anecdotally that drivers at times go in excess of 50 MPH, but this was unsubstantiated.
Additional complaints included the noise from the fields during play and the rubber that is used under the artificial turf at the field, but the planning board opted to focus on the light complaints first and pushed other concerns to the continuance of the hearing to later in the month, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 15.
The planning board questioned Michael P. Ryan, attorney for the Roots Athletic Center and representative for the group due to the owner’s absence, about receiving the cease and desist requests from the city’s building department.
Ryan said that after the second cease and desist letter was received he wrote back to the city on behalf of the owner once they asked him to intervene. Ryan said that he requested a primary injunction, which would allow for the continued operation of the lights while deliberation was made.
Ryan said that he “politely” wrote the letter to the city and sent copies to Mayor Brian Sullivan, ward 1 councilor Maryann Babinski and city council president Brent Bean.
Ryan said that he received a call from the city solicitor’s office reporting that they received the letter and that instead of pursuing a primary injunction, they would wait until the planning board meeting to see the results and act from there. The call, according to Ryan, was received Oct. 24.
“We didn’t ignore [the cease and desist], we responded to it in a very responsible way,” Ryan said.
“We understand the neighbor’s concerns but there’s been a sizeable investment,” he also said.
Ryan also called to question the amount of adequate enforcement of similar issues in the city, which he and others have claimed has become an issue itself.
In an earlier attempt to find out more about this issue, The Westfield News itself found trouble trying to find out about enforcement. After talking with Jay Vinskey, city planner, it was found that although the planning board establishes guidelines for construction and buildings, it does not enforce the guidelines. Instead, the city’s building department enforces them.
After talking with the building department, rather than being informed of any implementation or punishment, we were directed to the city’s legal department, which responded to questions about the issue and enforcement with answers of “no comment.”
The next planning board meeting is Nov. 15.
