About 100 people turned out Tuesday night for the third of three public hearings on the proposal to amend zoning regulations to allow for upgraded lighting at Middlebrook Field -- specifically allowing for lighting atop poles at heights of up to 70 ft to 80 ft.
The hearing at Cider Mill School began and ended with remarks from Casey Healy of Gregory and Adams representing the applicant, and vocal opponent of the amendment, Anthony LoFrisco, who introduced himself as a lawyer who had practiced in New York for fifty years.
Though the tone of the initial hearing on Sept. 23 was polite cordial, and the second hearing was more tense and featured some shouting, the third hearing left the impression of a cold standoff between two camps.
Mr. LoFrisco prefaced his remarks by sharing his concern about a potential conflict of interest among the commission member(s), and suggested Mr. Rudolph recuse himself from the proceedings.
"My view is that chairman Rudolph has prejudiced the application," said LoFrisco, before proceeding to accuse Mr. Rudolph of demeaning his attorney at the previous hearing, and expressing an objection to Mr. Rudolph's label of members of the public as "pros" and "antis."
LoFrisco also asked that Mr. Dyjak's testimony from the previous hearing be stricken because he was not given time to cross-examine.
"It is clear that your actions, statements, tone of voice and expressions are in favor of the people in favor of the application and therefore you should recuse yourself," LoFrisco said to Mr. Rudolph.
Mr. Rudolph's response was dismissive. "We consulted assistant town attorney Sullivan, who said it is not appropriate to allow someone to cross examine a speaker," said Rudolph. "This is not a court of law. It is a planning and zoning commission."
"There is not a sufficient number of fields to accommodate the schools and youth leagues," began Mr. Healy. "Use of the lighted fields by the high school leaves very little time for, for example, football. There are 785 athletes in youth football, field hockey and cheerleading, not including soccer," he said. Referring to a field use summary provided by Steve Pierce, Healy said WHS teams book all the fields from 3:00p.m. until dark.
Healy went on to list problems with a 30 ft height limitation.
"It is not sufficient to illuminate a multi-purpose field, for, say baseball or softball, because it increases spill and glare to neighboring properties and the ball can rise to a height creating a safety hazard."
Rudolph asked Healy if the applicant he represented would be amenable to changing the wording in the proposed amendment. "Would your client be willing to consider taking the word "shall" out of the first sentence where it says, 'Lighting for outdoor athletic fields shall be permitted' and would he be willing to amend that so it read, 'Lighting for outdoor athletic fields may be permitted'?"
"Sure," said Healy.
Asked if he could come up with a formula for lighting that addressed safety, Healy said he could not because there are hundreds of variables.
More than one member of the commission asked Mr. Healy and Don Rhuda of Musco Lighting whether there was any sort of recommendations, rules for minimum or maximum height of lights from athletic associations such as the Fairfield County Interscholastic Conference (FCIAC).
"I don't believe so," said Healy.
Mr. Rhuda said that with advanced lighting technology he has seen an illuminated sports field where an adjacent group of high school astronomers were stargazing unimpeded.
Healy said the edits to the applicant's proposal complied with Wilton's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). "They (the changes) are in harmony with the town plan."
During the public comment portion of the hearing, Al Nickel spoke in favor of the amendment.
"I ask you to consider that we're doing this for the children...to give them a clean, healthy, wholesome environment in which to participate in life going forward," said Nickel. "And every sport in this town does that. Every coach I know embodies that principal, wouldn't allow drugs or booze."
Woodson Duncan spoke of the view of Middlebrook from his terrace and brought along photo blow ups taken of the illuminated field.
"You don't need a meter to measure the light. You only need your eyes," said Duncan. This re-characterizes a neighborhood for a special interest group...It destroys property values," he said adding that he'd found it necessary to install blackout curtains in his windows.
In rebuttal to Mr. Duncan, Anna Marie Bilella, who described herself as a mother of three and supporter of upgrades to Middlebrook Field, said she had worked in real estate for 20 years and disagreed that the proposal would result in reduced property values. She suggested the commission do their homework. "See if property values have changed in towns where the lighting has gone in," she said, using New Canaan as an example of a town with updated lighting that has maintained strong property values.
Elizabeth Craig disputed Bilella, saying that New Canaan's illuminated fields are inside Waveny Park, which she described as huge. "The middle school does not even have raised lights. They have low lights," Craig said of New Canaan.
Kevin Kendra said that he had not been aware of the POCD but has studied it. "We are a semi-rural community," he said. "Not a rural community. There is a distinction. We can stay semi-rural and still have improvements."
Jennifer Kendra, who is involved with girls field hockey as a volunteer, waited until nearly 10:00p.m. to deliver her remarks. Both her daughter and husband each had three minutes to speak ahead of her.
"I would like to leave the comments about how people are raising their children aside," Kendra started. "This project will be privately funded," she said emphatically. "To be met with such resistance and negativity is insulting to our intelligence," Kendra concluded, to a round of applause.
One of the last speakers in the public comment period was John Kuczo, president of Wilton Youth Lacrosse for boys. "The bottom line is we need another lighted field. My biggest issue in getting qualified coaches is telling them that the practice time is 6:30p.m."
P&Z commission member Marilyn Gould objected to her fellow commissioners asking the applicant's attorney and lighting expert for input on language for the amendment.
"I have stated many times over many years that it is the responsibility of this commission to write its own regulations, not to accept regulations written by somebody else," Gould said. I object to your saying 'Can we change it?' Of course we can change it. The applicant has nothing to do with it...Our concern should be with the light spill that effects residents whether they are a tenth of a mile, a mile away or up on the stratosphere too."
Toward the end of the hearing, Rudolph asked LoFrisco, "If I asked you as an attorney for the language, could you come up with something?"
"Can I charge you?" joked LoFrisco to a chorus of laughter.
The hearing about lighting Middlebrook Field ended at 10:00p.m. and Mr. Rudolph said, "We are going to undertake consideration of the application at our next session in a couple of weeks."
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
