Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Diego Unified School District and Talmadge residents once again square off over issue of stadium lighting

SDUSD officials are forced to revisit stadium lighting after an appeals court ruled that the environmental review was insufficient and did not fall under Proposition S improvements.

It wasn't the first time that dozens of Talmage residents took seats inside Hoover High School auditorium to discuss the newly erected stadium lights and it won't be the last.

On May 8, thirty or so residents attended an environmental scoping meeting to address the noise, traffic, and parking that will flood the neighborhood as a result of night games and additional night events at the high school's newly renovated field.

Oddly enough; the lights have already been constructed and the renovations to the athletic field are complete. The renovations to the athletic facilties and the installation of light towers, which alone cost aproximately $800,000, were included in a larger project paid for with Proposition S funds.

The problem, say residents and ruled appellant court judges in a March 26 decision, is San Diego Unified School District failed to conduct the sufficient environmental analysis of the impacts to the neighborhood in regards to light, noise, traffic, and parking. In addition, judges determined that the 90-plus-foot light towers do not fall under the list of improvements authorized by Proposition S.

So now officials from San Diego Unified School District have asked their consultants to revisit the issue and conduct a proper environmental review of the project.

"The Court of Appeal ruled that the district did not perform sufficient environmental review of parking and traffic issues," stated Communications Supervisor for San Diego Unified, Cynthia Reed-Porter in a May 7 email. "In the interest of saving time and money, the district is conducting a focused Environmental Impact Report on those two specific issues, with the scoping meeting as a first step."

But residents are once again crying foul, saying the district is again trying to step outside the lines of the court in order to push the project through once and for all and avoid the possibility of having to take down the lights.

"The District's comment that it wants to 'save time and money' through some abbreviated or 'focused' environmental review is both incorrect, as a matter of law, and offensive," reads a statement from the attorney representing the residents, Craig Sherman.

"The amount of time and money that has been spent in this matter is a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars, and which is something that should never have occurred had the District performed the EIR it said it was going to do before it decided to short-shrift the law and the public by performing a mitigated negative declaration instead."

Sherman interprets the court's ruling to say much more than an abbreviated environmental review of the impacts to parking and traffic that will arrive in Talmadge during night games. He believes the district should conduct a complete environmental impact review.

"Based on the illegal use of funds spent on the stadium lighting and based on the fact that Court of Appeal is ordering the project's approval be rescinded, it cannot be said the project - as it is now built - is legally or factually a fait acompli that will remain in its current form. Only time will tell if this might be so."

Of course there are some who accuse the neighbors of NIMBY'ism. At yesterday's meeting, City Heights resident and track coach Elizabeth Tate, said the neighbors do not want to work with the school and that the district should do anything in its power to push the improvements through, including the lighting.

"Ninety-eight percent of Talmadge residents don't send their children to Hoover. They don't want to work with the school. They need to start. These residents should try and establish a relationship with these kids and this school. After all, Hoover was here long before they came."

The scoping meeting is just the first step in the process. Additional meetings will be announced as the process moves forward.

Disclosure: I am a property owner in Talmadge but live to the east of the school and moved here after any renovations took place.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

It wasn't the first time that dozens of Talmage residents took seats inside Hoover High School auditorium to discuss the newly erected stadium lights and it won't be the last.

On May 8, thirty or so residents attended an environmental scoping meeting to address the noise, traffic, and parking that will flood the neighborhood as a result of night games and additional night events at the high school's newly renovated field.

Oddly enough; the lights have already been constructed and the renovations to the athletic field are complete. The renovations to the athletic facilties and the installation of light towers, which alone cost aproximately $800,000, were included in a larger project paid for with Proposition S funds.

The problem, say residents and ruled appellant court judges in a March 26 decision, is San Diego Unified School District failed to conduct the sufficient environmental analysis of the impacts to the neighborhood in regards to light, noise, traffic, and parking. In addition, judges determined that the 90-plus-foot light towers do not fall under the list of improvements authorized by Proposition S.

So now officials from San Diego Unified School District have asked their consultants to revisit the issue and conduct a proper environmental review of the project.

"The Court of Appeal ruled that the district did not perform sufficient environmental review of parking and traffic issues," stated Communications Supervisor for San Diego Unified, Cynthia Reed-Porter in a May 7 email. "In the interest of saving time and money, the district is conducting a focused Environmental Impact Report on those two specific issues, with the scoping meeting as a first step."

But residents are once again crying foul, saying the district is again trying to step outside the lines of the court in order to push the project through once and for all and avoid the possibility of having to take down the lights.

"The District's comment that it wants to 'save time and money' through some abbreviated or 'focused' environmental review is both incorrect, as a matter of law, and offensive," reads a statement from the attorney representing the residents, Craig Sherman.

"The amount of time and money that has been spent in this matter is a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars, and which is something that should never have occurred had the District performed the EIR it said it was going to do before it decided to short-shrift the law and the public by performing a mitigated negative declaration instead."

Sherman interprets the court's ruling to say much more than an abbreviated environmental review of the impacts to parking and traffic that will arrive in Talmadge during night games. He believes the district should conduct a complete environmental impact review.

"Based on the illegal use of funds spent on the stadium lighting and based on the fact that Court of Appeal is ordering the project's approval be rescinded, it cannot be said the project - as it is now built - is legally or factually a fait acompli that will remain in its current form. Only time will tell if this might be so."

Of course there are some who accuse the neighbors of NIMBY'ism. At yesterday's meeting, City Heights resident and track coach Elizabeth Tate, said the neighbors do not want to work with the school and that the district should do anything in its power to push the improvements through, including the lighting.

"Ninety-eight percent of Talmadge residents don't send their children to Hoover. They don't want to work with the school. They need to start. These residents should try and establish a relationship with these kids and this school. After all, Hoover was here long before they came."

The scoping meeting is just the first step in the process. Additional meetings will be announced as the process moves forward.

Disclosure: I am a property owner in Talmadge but live to the east of the school and moved here after any renovations took place.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.