Zoning Board To Hear Wynnewood Civic’s Appeal To Halt LM High School Lights
The Zoning Hearing Board of Lower Merion Township will hold a meeting on Wednesday, March 31. The only item on the agenda is an appeal by the Wynnewood Civic Association. The civic association will try to persuade the Zoning Hearing Board to reverse a prior ruling that approved a Tentative Sketch Plan for the construction of four 80 foot high light poles/towers at Lower Merion High School’s Arnold Field. The poles/towers, if constructed, would hold a lighting system that would enable various teams to play games and practice after sundown. Most notably, the new construction would usher in the era of “Friday Night Lights” at Lower Merion High School.
A website of the Save Arnold Field Committee was launched recently. According to the website, “The Committee works with the Wynnewood Civic Association on this effort.”
The Committee offers these reasons for its opposition to the lights:
The profligate waste of at least $1 million of taxpayer money the School District plans to spend on the lights, excluding $950,000 budgeted for a new public address system and infrastructure improvements
The evisceration of the Township’s new zoning code that would enable institutions throughout the Township to install stadium lights on their fields
The adverse impact to the quiet enjoyment of the surrounding neighborhood, including the health of the children who would be directly affected by the light and noise pollution
The reduction in property values of the homes in surrounding neighborhoods and subsequent devaluation of the Township’s property tax base