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Staff: Priory's proposed field lights exceed town lumen limits; CUP prohibits night lighting
Summary
Planning staff told commissioners that the Priory's temporary lighting plan would exceed the town's per-fixture lumen cap and conflict with a CUP condition forbidding night lighting on athletic fields; staff recommended removing or revising the lighting in any approval.
Senior planner Nick Martel explained the technical and legal tensions between the applicant's proposed temporary field lights and Portola Valley regulations. He cited the town's outdoor-lighting standard and the CUP that governs the Priory's campus: "The town lumen limit per code is 1,125 lumens maximum per fixture. The proposed fixtures, from Woodside Priory, would exceed that," he said, and added that "CUP condition 11 explicitly states that there shall be no night lighting on athletic fields."
Martel described the applicant's approach: temporary, shielded Musco fixtures, dimmable to 50% and aimed downward, and constrained to a set on/off schedule. Staff nevertheless found the proposal noncompliant with lighting prohibitions and recommended removing or substantially revising the lighting plan as a condition of approval. Commissioners requested detail on the updated exhibit (change from five to four stanchions) and on equipment load and lumen counts so they could determine whether the proposal could be brought into compliance.
The commission did not approve lighting. It directed the applicant to submit a revised packet without temporary night lighting and to provide specific noise-monitoring information for staff review prior to the continued hearing.
