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Neighbors and conservatory warn of risk from batted balls; ask for larger fence and design changes
Summary
Residents and Concordia Conservatory urged the board to require larger or extended netting and other design changes, saying Ionas proposed right-field distance and 40-foot netting may not prevent foul or line-drive balls from leaving the campus into streets and yards.
Several residents and Conservatory representatives told the board they fear batted balls will reach public streets and private yards if the field is configured as proposed. Jay Curran, speaking for 19 households on Hobart Street, said "the acceptable number of baseballs batted out of that field is 0" and argued that Ionas right-field distance (about 300 feet as presented) is well under NCAA Division I guidelines.
Curran pointed to diagrams and exit-velocity assumptions in Ionas submission and said the applicants own numbers imply some balls can clear a 40-foot fence. Ionas counsel responded that the university will raise netting from about 20 feet to 40 feet, add netting along rows and provide a batting cage for practice; counsel argued the proposal "is a significant improvement upon the existing condition" and noted there is no record of serious accidents in the last 55 years on the site.
Board members said they were sympathetic to the applicants desire to reuse the field but asked for more refined design options and for the applicant to revisit whether higher or extended barriers should be required in places Westchester County suggested. No final design decision was made; the board requested additional analysis and clearer demonstrations that line drives would be captured by the proposed measures.
