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Board grants final PUD approval for Galena Unit School District athletic field and track
Summary
The Galena Zoning Board of Appeals on Oct. 8 approved final PUD site modifications for the Galena Unit School District to add a synthetic-turf athletic field and regulation track, including LED lighting, stormwater controls, bleacher reuse and a press box.
The Galena Zoning Board of Appeals granted final PUD (planned unit development) approval Oct. 8 to the Galena Unit School District for site modifications to add an athletic field and regulation track on the district’s campus.
School and design representatives told the board the district is landlocked and the new configuration—made possible by acquiring a narrow triangular strip of right-of-way from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)—allows reorientation of the playing field north–south and space for a 400-meter track. Marty Johnson of Straka Johnson Architects described the project components to the board: a synthetic turf field with subsurface drain tiles and stormwater collection, a rubberized track surface over asphalt, LED field lighting with focused photometrics to limit light spill, a new press box, reuse of existing aluminum bleachers donated/installed by the Booster Club, and two retaining walls (including a larger retaining wall of approximately 1,200 face feet along the highway side).
Johnson said the district expects to begin grading later this fall, install turf next spring, and have the field available by the following fall. He told the board that tax credits generated by the district’s geothermal system will finance the work, rather than direct use of referendum funds.
City planning staff confirmed the final plan complies with the PUD criteria in the zoning code and that no building permit shall be issued until any remaining final plan approvals and construction requirements are met. Board members reviewed the final-plan criteria — consistency with the approved preliminary development plan, conformance with PUD standards, site-plan review criteria and applicable codes — and found the application met them. The board then approved the final PUD plan (recorded as calendar item 25PDash02) by roll-call vote.
The board noted regrading, stormwater detention, fencing, and access points; the plan includes pedestrian paths for community use around the outside of the fenced field. The approval is limited to zoning and final-plan compliance; standard building-permit, site-work and inspection processes remain in effect.
