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Crystal Lake council approves special‑use permit amendment for Prairie Ridge stadium upgrades
Summary
The council unanimously approved a special‑use permit amendment allowing higher bleachers, taller light poles, artificial turf, a ticket booth and grass overflow parking at Prairie Ridge High School after staff and petitioners described noise and sightline mitigations for neighbors.
The Crystal Lake City Council on Jan. 6 unanimously approved a special‑use permit amendment for Prairie Ridge High School at 6000 Dvorak Road to allow expansion and upgrades to the stadium, including bleachers raised to 20 feet, light poles up to 70 feet, artificial turf, a ticket booth and grass overflow parking.
City planner Katie Collin summarized the request as an amendment to permit accessory structure height, field lighting height and parking surface. She told council the Planning & Zoning Commission reviewed the proposal and recommended approval, and that staff and petitioners had revised elements after neighbor feedback on lighting and noise.
Abraham Mora of FGM Architects, representing the petitioners, said the work is intended to serve students, athletes and existing visitors rather than materially increasing stadium capacity. Mora described site changes including track resurfacing, relocation of the long‑jump pit to the field exterior, a new ticket booth and regrading, and explained that relocating light poles up the adjacent hill increases pole height from the field perspective but not from the installation grade.
Neighbors asked about noise projection and landscaping. Collin said the speaker system will be reconfigured so sound is directed more toward the school rather than the adjacent neighborhood, and that the district agreed to add additional landscaping between the stadium and nearby homes. Council also asked about typical event end times; petitioners estimated events generally wind down by about 10–11 p.m.
Councilmember questions touched on parking and sightlines; the petitioners said overflow parking uses nearby practice fields and that the home bleachers expansion provides better viewing angles for existing spectators. Council recorded the stadium seating capacity at about 2,777 seats during discussion.
Council member motioned to adopt the Planning & Zoning Commission recommendation and enact an ordinance granting the special‑use permit amendment and necessary variations for the Prairie Ridge stadium. The motion passed on a roll call vote with all members present voting yes.
The applicants thanked the council and said they will proceed with final design and permitting under the approved variances.
