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Nov 10, 2024

Mount Vernon School to revise application for athletic field lights - Rough Draft Atlanta

The Mount Vernon School plans to revise the application to light its athletic field based on feedback from residents in neighboring subdivisions. Carl Streck, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of

The Mount Vernon School plans to revise the application to light its athletic field based on feedback from residents in neighboring subdivisions.

Carl Streck, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Mount Vernon School, told Rough Draft the conditions the school would add deal with outdoor lighting, audio, screening, and field rental.

Residents have told school officials during community meetings held as part of the zoning permit process that they don’t want their lives disrupted by lights and noises from the field.

Residents repeatedly said that an agreement with the Mount Vernon Woods Community Association to not install lights expires next year, but hoped the agreement would become permanent.

Streck said the school would agree to no lighting on Saturday or Sunday or for three months from May 15 to Aug. 15. The school also would agree to no lights during its Christmas break from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15. The school will schedule games and practices to end by 9:30 p.m. The light system would be “professionally designed with virtually no light spillage onto adjacent property.”

Conditions the school will introduce on audio include limiting sound system use to Mount Vernon athletic competitions and special school events, Streck said. Sound system settings would be optimized to limit sound spillage.

In community meetings, Head of School Kristy Lundstrom said the school was willing to agree to limit the use of audio and lights at Ron Hill Field to 10 times per year, including four home football games.

Evergreen planting will be installed by the school to screen Ron Hall Field from its neighbors, according to Streck’s list of conditions. Any new plantings that die within two years will be replaced.

Addressing the concerns about the school renting out its athletic field, Streck said the school will include in the revised application a stipulation that it will not rent to adult leagues or teams. The field will not be rented on Sundays, and no sound system may be used during rentals.

Lundstrom and Streck said they are open to additional meetings with neighbors and are actively seeking them to find ways to limit the proposed lighting’s impact on homes that border the school.

“We care deeply about our community,” Streck said. “It is important to us to continue to seek compromise and dispel the misinformation out there.”

The Sandy Springs Planning Commission will hear the case on Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. at Sandy Springs City Hall.

Bob Pepalis covers Sandy Springs for Rough Draft Atlanta and Reporter Newspapers. More by Bob Pepalis