DECEMBER 10, 2024 – Marin Board of Supervisors Hearing On MCHS Request For Permanent Nighttime Lights

Preserve Ross Valley

We are dedicated to protecting the natural beauty and tranquility of Ross Valley neighborhoods.  We strive to safeguard our local ecosystems, promote sustainable practices, and ensure the safety and well-being of all residents. 

Marin Catholic’s Controversial Plan For Nighttime Stadium Events

On July 5, 2024, Marin Catholic High School (MCHS) renewed its application to install permanent nightime stadium lights. The plan would significantly alter the school’s use of its campus by introducing previously unpermitted outdoor spectator sports, public assemblies and other activities occurring late into the evenings (i.e. 10pm or later) on any given day of the week or weekend.

Residents of Ross Valley are deeply concerned about both the lights and nightime events, which will adversely change the character, beauty and visual attributes of Ross Valley and its environs forever. Illumination of the towering 80′ tall light structures – reaching as high as 8-story buildings – will produce light pollution, altering the night sky and affecting local wildlife. Nighttime spectator-sports and other public events will generate significant noise pollution, exacerbate parking shortages and worsen evening traffic congestion, making it much more difficult for residents to enjoy their own homes and navigate their own streets.

In 1998, when the Marin Community Development Authority (CDA) rejected a similar proposal from MCHS, the CDA clearly explained:

“The installation of athletic field lighting constitutes a change in use of the existing MCHS campus because it would introduce new outdoor nighttime events where none are currently permitted by the County. Therefore, application for Use Permit and Design Review will be required…” 

In 2012, MCHS renewed its bid to install permanent stadium lights as part of its bleacher renovation project but when the CDA prepared a summary denial of the application, MCHS withdrew its lighting request. When MCHS tried again in 2016 to get a permit for stadium lights, the CDA unequivocally concluded:

“[T]he combined effects of the project related to the projected light and glare, noise, and traffic congestion would adversely affect the character of the surrounding community.”

Now, Marin Catholic is trying to push their proposal through again by going to the Planning Commission with a declaration that no permitting is required. This argument was narrowly defeated on the grounds that an Initial Study and CEQA review are required, and Marin Catholic is appealing that ruling to the Board of Supervisors. The Supervisors will have a hearing on the matter on DECEMBER 10, 2024. 

You Are Encouraged To Attend!

Why does MCHS need permanent night lights?

They don’t. MCHS does not need field lights. The school has successfully operated without field lights for years. 

However, MCHS wants field lights because they’ve chosen to pursue an aggressive marketing & growth strategy that, notwithstanding existing space constraints, relies heavily on unbridled expansions of its sports programs in order to attract elite athletes. (MCHS is a private school owned by the Archdiocese Of SF).

There are numerous student support programs that are far more appropriate for this site that would not impose significant negative impacts on Ross Valley and the surrounding environs.

How is this proposal different from prior MCHS proposals?

In 2012, MCHS promised to propose a plan that would light the stadium for only 10 evening events a year, specifically including only “five football games and five soccer or lacrosse matches.”  As president Tim Navone explained, “…If there’s some trust that it really is just five times a year the community would be impacted, they’d be behind it and support it.” 

The current plan proposes to light the stadium for at least 135 night events per year, representing a 135% increase in usage! 

How many light structures will be installed?

While MCHS is prone to describing the project as a mere “(4) 80′ light poles”, the massive light system will include four 80′ poles plus four powerful light arrays of seven 1500 watt fixtures, plus eight 575 watt lights at 15’ plus another four light fixtures at 70′.  The proposal also includes more than a dozen additional 16′ tall “way-finding”  lights (with unspecified wattage, directional information, or light height information).

Will this increase noise in the surrounding neighborhoods?

YES!

MCHS sits at the base of Ross Valley, which has a particular topography that acts as natural amphitheater amplifying noise generated from stadium events up into the surrounding residential neighborhoods and hillsides.  The stadium noise is very loud and is not limited to cheers and boos, but also includes noise from stomping feet on aluminum bleachers, air horns, marching bands and crackling PA system announcements. MCHS’ president has suggested that if local residents are bothered by the noise, then “a trip to Costco, a hike on the mountain, or a visit to a friend’s house is in order.” REALLY? How are young children in the neighborhood supposed to sleep? Are the neighbors simply supposed to go on night hikes and live at Costco 135 nights a year? 

Will this create more traffic congestion?

YES!

Traffic along Sir Francis Drake Blvd suffers such congestion that the County recently spent nearly $18 million to try to alleviate the traffic problem between US 101 and the Town of Ross. Even after this project, the traffic flow rates a grade of C, according to the County. MC is in the middle of this heavily impacted stretch. The stadium lights would generate even more traffic right at rush hour, which is obviously a negative development and counter to the effort to improve the corridor. It may also create further safety hazards as students and family leave the late-evening events.

Will this create more parking issues?

YES! 

MC’s parking lot and neighboring lots at St. Sebastian church and Bacich Elementary School are not large enough to accommodate the cars for evening events. MC’s proposal acknowledges that parking will necessarily spill over into neighboring areas where the streets are already narrow and crowded with parked cars at night. Countless new visitors would only exacerbate this already serious problem.

Will this create glare or light pollution?

YES!

Skyglow and glare is of significant concern for a wide range of residents due to the topography of the area. This concern also extends to wildlife, as circadian rhythms are often disrupted by such powerful light sources. In addition, the 80-foot tall light towers would be unsightly and would illuminate a large swath of Ross Valley. Views toward and from Mt. Tam would be degraded or eliminated many nights a year, a condition consistent with an urban setting but inappropriate for Marin County.

Will this affect local wildlife?

YES! 

Artificial light and noise pollution are one of the most widespread threats to biodiversity around the globe. It has numerous and severe impacts on wildlife, especially harming nocturnal wildlife, species active during twilight, insects, and migratory birds and bats. Artificial light and intrusive noise disrupts natural rhythms, influences predator-prey relationships, and hinders navigation, reproduction, nourishment and sleep.

Does the proposal include specific limits on noise levels and clear restrictions on days, times, and manner of usage?

NO! 

Will this provide any significant benefits to Ross Valley residents?

 No.

Marin Catholic High School retains exclusive control and use of the fields.  MCHS is a tax-exempt private “commuter” school and it is estimated that less than 15% of its students and staff live within our Community.  Although MCHS will  clearly benefit from the proposed system, there are no significant benefits for Ross Valley residents. This is a fundamentally unbalanced equation: a private benefit, and a public cost.

PROJECT IMPACTS

Click Here To Learn How The MCHS Plan Will Impact Your Neighborhood

“Marin Catholic previously promised to limit usage of the field lighs to only 10 nights per year. The new plan allows for at least 135 nights per year. This reflects a huge increase (+135%) in proposed usage!”

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Please Attend: Marin Board Of Supervisors Mtg

CONTACT US

For more Information or if you have questions, please email: PreserveRossValley@gmail.com

Letters From The Locals

What Our Community Is Saying

“The MC field borders densely-populated, rising hills on two sides, creating a natural amphitheater effect, and wetlands harboring protected species on a third side. It would be difficult to conceive of a location more poorly suited to a lighted stadium than the MC property..”

Jim McClellan

“[T}his would greatly impact the surrounding neighborhoods by actually determining when we can go to sleep, it will create more traffic congestion, it could be disrupting to the animals that live in the marsh, and clearly make it more difficult for us to have peace and quiet in our homes in the evening. Our quality of life and enjoyment of our homes will be very negatively impacted by this proposal.”

Judy Metzger

 “The Project should be denied because it is not consistent with necessary Design Review findings and a reasonable review of expected negative impacts on neighboring properties. …It is incompatible with the existing community and further environmental analysis will only uncover further significant negative impacts confirming this conclusion.”John Holzwarth

 “The lighting, glare, noise, and increased traffic at dusk and dark would substantially, negatively impact the calm and quiet of the surrounding residential areas, convenient traffic flow, and the unobstructed views from all sides of the field.”Bredan Fogarty

 “The installation of the 80 foot high light poles may be a benefit to MC, but the community will bear the burden and suffer the consequences. …Based on the incompatibility of the MC lights project with many of the Marin code requirements, planning policies, and community principles, I am requesting that the County government deny the MC lights proposal.”Larry Mansbach

 “Will Marin County sacrifice the wellbeing of our schoolchildren so that football boosters can be entertained? …Marin Catholic has other options for finding field space and building nighttime sports facilities in neighborhoods is not something we should normalize. Prioritizing private football boosters over the thousands of local residents would set an ugly precedent for all Marin communities.”Ben Morris

“Those of us who live within range of the field know only too well how the sound of screaming crowds, World Cup horns, the MC Drum Corps and loud music affects our lives. Imagine this level of noise invading our homes at night!”

Lynn Arias Bornstein

“I look over that valley from my deck and spend a lot of time along Corte Madera creek at different times of day, dusk and night. I find preposterous the claims by the school that the light technology is such that there would be no light impacts behind the field of play.”

Chuck Finnien

“Students in Marin have enjoyed football and other sports for over 60 years with no lights on the fields. There is no compelling reason to change that now. Students are better off with practices after school so they can be home with their families on weeknights to enjoy family time and do homework. On weekends, day games are safer than having teen drivers drive from all over Marin at night.”

Suzanne Fogarty

“The illumination and use of the MCHS field lights for spectator-sports, public assembly and other activities during the dusk and nighttime hours will change the character, beauty and visual attributes of the Ross Valley Community and its environs forever. The expansion of the nonconforming use of this parcel is unreasonable.”

Fay Urbais Amerson

“Why are long–term residents being asked to bear the burden of a private school’s lighting project? It is not a project that will benefit the community in any way, and will only further Marin Catholic’s private needs and desires…. Truly, enough is enough.”Yumi Esaka

“It is not as if Marin Catholic is at a disadvantage for not having 80 foot field lights. …[V]irtually none of our Marin County public High Schools: Redwood, Tamalpais, Archie Williams, Terra Linda or Novato, have such field lights for night games. Nor do private high schools: Marin Academy or Branson.”

Lynn Arias Bornstein

“…Marin Catholic is a private school where more than 80% of the students do not reside in the surrounding community…. It’s easy to feel the entitlement in MC’s argument. Why is it that most other public high schools don’t have night lights but MC, which is a private school, deserves them? My kids would never have been able to play on their fields as it would be deemed trespassing, so the argument from MC that this will benefit the community rings hollow..”

Chris Gow-Panzardi

“….Marin Catholic is not a community school. The sole beneficiary of this field lighting proposal is a private, parochial, non-tax paying school, not the community. Despite meeting with overwhelming opposition from the community on each of its previous failed attempts for stadium lights, the school continues to try to force this project on its neighbors…”

Jim McClellan

 “[I]f MC has chosen to be the school that offers “more athletic opportunities than any school north of the Golden Gate Bridge,” they should raise the money through whatever means (i.e. alumni; endowment) and build a facility in an appropriately zoned location that allows for their prioritization of sports.”Janet Epstein

 “This Is a Neighborhood, Not a Sports District. I have been involved in financing stadiums, including $50M+ versions at Texas high schools. This type of LED-lit arena is built after voter approval and typically serves multiple schools. These are constructed in athletic complexes, not amidst homes. Marin Catholic notes that they have used other field facilities for sports such as lacrosse, and this seems a viable option to find the space they lack.”Ben Morris

“Let us be honest, they run a business and this project was a business decision that MC made to increase their brand, make it easier to recruit students and to increase their bottom line, all at our expense. I cannot imagine a business in our community that would be allowed to have events at night until 9PM (let’s be honest, they’ll tail off till 9:30-10:00 five nights a week for four-five months creating traffic, noise and likely other environmental problems.”

Laurie Kahn

“The animals that live on the Marsh and in Corte Madera creek depend on us to protect them from further development and intrusion of their habitat..”

Suzanne Fogarty

“Are you thinking clearly? You want to increase traffic, increase pollution, and ruin the neighborhood, just so a private school [can] play football on Friday night instead of Saturday. Seriously, that is a very bad trade off for our community.”

Bob Casey

“If the school has outgrown its current site, the problem will not be solved by field lights.”Garril Page

“Nighttime field lighting and everything else that comes with it is not a standard part of this neighborhood and never has been. It would represent a significant and dramatic expansion of MC’s footprint and a significant detriment to its neighbors. “

Mark W. Epstein

“MC has already overburdened our community with its massively expanded sports programs, hours of facility use, and commercial enterprises to the point that I would conservatively estimate the amount of usage and noise increase is likely two to three times what it was when we moved here. Enough is enough, it is time to say no to MC and respect the local community that is already significantly burdened by MC’s operations with little to no corresponding benefit. “

Mark W. Epstein

“MC is willing to utilize each and every inch of its athletic fields, courts, and tracks, not only for its own student body, but also to promote fee generating clinics, programs, etc. It now wants to use every tick of the clock as well. There should be no question that if it were granted the unjustified privilege of having nighttime field lights, that MC would yet again expand its use to the burden and detriment of its neighbors.”

Mark W. Epstein

[Will the school pay an event fee for police and fire support? Will homeowners be assessed additional taxes to provide additional event support?.”

Marie Jacobs

“At present we enjoy a wonderful night view of the entire Ross Valley across the Creek to Larkspur and Corte Madera, as well as Mt. Tam in the distance. The massive lighting system that Marin Catholic proposes to install is likely to obliterate our view.”

Mark C. Peery

“People choose to live in Marin for the natural beauty of our open spaces, including Mt. Tam, our marshlands, and our dark skies. Children thrive growing up in these peaceful surroundings and looking up at star filled night skies. There are many places in the Country and California you can live if you want to participate in Friday Night Football but there are few places that offer the beautiful serenity of Ross Valley. Our children and families depend on our leaders to protect Marin County marshlands and neighborhoods from intrusive light and nighttime noise pollution..”

Suzanne Fogarty