OAK PARK : Panel Votes Against Lighted Ball Fields

The Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council has added its voice to the chorus of community protest against putting in lighted ball fields at the planned Indian Springs Park.

The council voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to recommend that the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District change its master plan for the park, which calls for installing 60-foot-high lights around a playing field for soccer and baseball.

Chairman Duane Skavdahl cast the dissenting vote.

Councilman Ron Stark said he was concerned that community opposition to the proposed lights could delay the park’s development, which is expected to begin within the next year.

“Right now, let’s just get the park moving,” he said. Stark added that the district could install electrical wiring to allow the installation of lights at some future date.

The council’s vote came five days after dozens of residents who live near the park site at Rockfield Street and Hawthorne Drive protested against the planned lights at a park district meeting.

The neighbors complained that the lights would encourage ballplayers from outside the community to play night games at the park, possibly causing problems with noise, litter and vandalism.

Opponents said the glare from the lights would shine into the windows and back yards of their homes.

Skavdahl said he opposed the recommendation against the lights because “I think it’s premature.”

“I’m not sure at this stage we need to jump just because we know there’s opposition” to the lights, he said. There may be many people who support the proposed lights who have so far been quiet, he said.

The park district is expected to begin holding public hearings on Indian Springs Park this fall.