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Residents urge council to reject Mount Vernon School stadium lights; planning commission opposed 6-0
Summary
Neighbors and community association leaders told the council the school's request to add field lighting would violate previous conditional-use limits, harm nearby homes and is unnecessary given undeveloped fields and other mitigation options.
Dozens of Sandy Springs residents told the City Council on Jan. 7 that Mount Vernon School’s proposal to install stadium lighting would harm nearby neighborhoods and conflict with promises made in prior conditional-use permits.
Kimberly Oliver, president of the Mount Vernon Woods Community Association, said the Planning Commission unanimously opposed the application 6-0 and urged council members to respect prior agreements. “The school is prohibited from lighting the field because they willingly agreed to this prohibition in numerous documents and cups,” Oliver said.
Residents described the proposed lights as 70-foot poles that the school has said could be used up to five nights a week. Sophia Sheber, who said she lives within walking distance of the campus, said she and her family would not have purchased their home had they known the scope of what the school proposed. “We would have never purchased our home,” Sheber said, adding that the lights were described to neighbors only after they moved in.
Susan Kesak, another Mount Vernon Woods resident, told the council the field slated for lighting sits about 100 feet from property lines of homes in Mount Vernon Woods and REO West. “This is not an interior campus field. It is located 100 feet from property lines of homes in both Mount Vernon Woods and REO West,” she said.
Speakers questioned the school’s stated needs, noting the school obtained approval in a 2017 conditional-use permit for additional fields and recently obtained a land disturbance permit for work that the speakers say will create additional practice space. Commenters suggested alternative heat mitigation such as shade, fans or turf replacement, and some said the school appears to plan to rent fields for revenue, which would increase nighttime use.
Planning Commission testimony opposing the lights was cited repeatedly. Several residents said past conditional-use approvals expressly prohibited lights; the planning commission’s 6-0 recommendation against the application was noted during public comment.
No council action was taken on the application on Jan. 7. The item will return to the council in a future meeting after staff and the applicant complete required reviews.
