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Neighbors, soccer league find compromise on lights
By RICK GERSHMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, CROSS CREEK -- Lights! Camcorder! Action! The future appears bright for soccer players practicing at Benito Middle School. Just one matter remains in the dark: Whether the new permanent lights will bother neighbors once they're switched on. New Tampa Soccer Association coaches had to wait a year longer than expected to get the permanent lights, and they'll still have some portable diesel-powered lights, which are costly and cumbersome to use. But they say this still is a big step toward ensuring the league's more than 100 recreational and competitive teams will be able to practice as needed. "We've been drooling over the day when some facility would have a lighted, after-hours place for us to practice," said Dennis O'Connor, an NTSA coach. The lights are attached to three poles and a cellular tower, all paid for by Verizon, which agreed to a five-year lease with the school district to place the cell tower on Benito property. The lights went up in May, but have not been used yet, said Lewis Brinson, Benito's former principal. Coaches plan to begin using the lights this fall, probably near the end of October, when daylight savings time ends. "We really don't need them until then," O'Connor said. The lights will be used Monday through Thursday and stay on no later than 9:30 p.m., NTSA president Caryn Bray said. The league will pay for maintenance and the electric bill, she said. While the lights will help, the league still finds its facilities trailing far behind other leagues of comparable size. "We just do not have enough lighted fields, even with these," she said. "We don't play at night, but we need them for practices." In addition to the Benito fields, the league already uses fields at Compton Park in Tampa Palms and recreational fields in Hunter's Green and West Meadows. Bray said the NTSA has been fortunate that Benito and several private communities have helped find space for the teams to practice and play games. Representatives from the two communities closest to Benito, Arbor Greene and Hunter's Green, originally were concerned that the lights would be an annoyance to nearby homeowners. Arbor Greene sits directly behind the school. According to John Blakley, the community's vice president/general manager, part of the problem was that Verizon, the NTSA and the school district had not originally consulted with him or Hunter's Green's representatives. "In fairness to them, I got the impression that once they were aware (the lights could be a problem), they tried to work with us," Blakley said. "I think the (School Board) was trying to do something good for the community, and just didn't think about it. All we were trying to do was get them to understand that there (could be) an adversarial effect. "We met with them and asked if they would work with us on a light plan that would minimize the effect of these lights. . . . They included a lot of the things we asked for." Changes were made to the height of the lights and where they are pointed, and shrouds have been placed around them to reduce the amount of "scatter light" they emit, league officials said. "People don't want these lights shining in their back windows," said O'Connor, the NTSA coach, who also is an Arbor Greene resident. "These lights are on the biggest chunk of (Benito's property) we use, which is the farthest away from Arbor Greene." Ann Johnson, manager of the Hunter's Green Community Association, said she was satisfied the league was doing everything it could to avoid bothering local residents. "I think they've been very generous in trying to accommodate the homeowners," Johnson said. "I'm sure that if (it turns out) there is any direct effect, that they'll take care of it. . . . The children need more recreational park space and we're totally in support of that." One thing everyone agrees on: The hope that these lights and evening practices do not lead to a repeat of a problem that occurred at a ballpark across the street. In June 1998, an evening baseball game at the Northeast Little League (now New Tampa Little League) ended early when a gunshot rang out and spectators claimed they were struck by falling shotgun pellets. Witnesses said they saw a muzzle flash from the back yard of a nearby resident who had often complained to park officials about lights and noise from the field. The homeowner told reporters he had not fired a shotgun. No charges were filed.
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