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Resident urges earlier driving-range lights cutoff at city-owned golf course, cites neighborhood petition
Summary
A nearby resident told the council the driving-range lights at the city-owned golf course remain on past 8 p.m. for only a handful of users and that the management company is prioritizing profits over neighbors; she urged amending the park/business agreement and the city’s light ordinance to require lights off at 8 p.m.
Sierra Vista — During the May 22 call to the public, resident Karen Flynn urged the City Council to require the city-owned golf course driving-range lights to be turned off earlier, citing low evening usage and complaints from nearby homeowners.
“On 12 random days between April 26 and last night…usage has gone down to an average of four people hitting balls at 8:00,” Flynn said, summarizing a spreadsheet of visits she provided to the council. Flynn told the council the range’s lights routinely remain on until 9:30 p.m. while the number of users drops by 9 p.m., and she said 93 residents submitted a petition in February asking for lights to be off at 8 p.m. because of light and noise impacts to surrounding neighborhoods.
Flynn compared the Sierra Vista facility to Dobson Ranch’s driving range in Phoenix, saying the Phoenix site has more commercial demand and greater separation from residences. She also relayed an email she said she received from Paradigm’s CEO, Joe Dahlstrom, stating that the company would “do everything we can to stay within” the light ordinance that requires lights out by 10 p.m., and argued the city should require an earlier cutoff to make the course “a good neighbor.”
Why it matters: Flynn said more lights will be added to the range under the current business agreement and that those lights, combined with noise, have driven two petition signers to move away. She asked the council to amend the park’s operating agreement and the applicable ordinances so lights are out at 8 p.m.
Council response and context: The council received Flynn’s petition and spreadsheet; there was no immediate council motion on the request during the meeting. Flynn asked that the business agreement and ordinances relating to the park be amended; staff or council did not provide a timetable for such changes at the meeting.
Background: Flynn noted that the city treats the golf course as a city park and contrasted the facility’s proximity to adjacent single-family homes with examples in other jurisdictions where residences sit farther from range lights. The management company referenced by Flynn, Paradigm, operates the course under a city business agreement, and Flynn urged the council to factor residential impacts into that agreement and ordinance enforcement.
