Aesthetics
Our commitment is to foster a vibrant and resilient community that values its natural surroundings and works collaboratively to address environmental challenges.
Light Pollution
Noise Pollution
Traffic Congestion
Parking Shortages
Loss of Character, Natural Beauty & Tranquility
The illumination and use of the MCHS field lights for outdoor 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.
Marin Catholic is located at the base of Ross Valley, which is characterized by residential neighborhoods along the sides and ridge lines of the valley. Mount Tamalpais and adjacent open space areas are readily visible to the west. The valley is relatively dark during the evening hours, with the exception of Marin General Hospital, and silhouettes of the surrounding ridge lines and mountains fade slowly as evening progresses.
A repeated goal of the Kentfield/Greenbrae Community Plan and the Marin Countywide Plan (collectively, the Community Plan) is to preserve the residential character of the community. The vast majority of land in the study area is zoned for residential use and is used for housing. The Community Plan seeks to maintain the cherished community attributes of “open lands, unobstructed views, clean air, quiet, privacy, safe and convenient traffic circulation.” Preserving these characteristics requires deflection of powerful development trends. This is not a narrow-minded approach against change – it is a necessary measure of preservation, because not all change is progress.
Due to the residential nature of the adjacent neighborhoods, MCHS’ project is overly disruptive to the existing conditions and is contrary to the Community Plan. In 2016, the Marin CDA rejected MCHS’ request to install permanent stadium nightlights:
“The proposal to install 80 foot tall light poles around the perimeter of an athletic field at the base of Ross Valley would alter the existing ambience of the valley. While the notion of light pollution, spill light and glare are subjective, it is apparent in reviewing the application that the addition of the field lighting system at the school would result in a level of light contrast and light pollution that is out of character with the neighborhood.”
The massively bright light system sitting atop four 80-foot light stanchions in the middle of the residential Ross Valley, used with significant regularity for evening and night-time practices and games, would violate the goals of the Community Plan. 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. This is the type of project that the Community Plan advocates disallowing despite “powerful, persistent, and ubiquitous” trends which are framed as “progress” but instead are degradations of Ross Valley’s cherished characteristics which must be preserved.
Ross Valley Deserves To Be Preserved
“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.”
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Next Meeting:
Dec 10, 2024
More Significant Negative Impacts
Night Noise. Night Lights. Night Traffic.
Noise Pollution
Daytime game noise is already so loud in some homes that folks have to keep the windows closed, otherwise it sounds like the game is being played in their backyard. Imagine suffering through this every night of the school year!
Light Pollution
Skyglow and glare is of significant concern for Ross Valley residents due to the topography of the area. Light pollution from the towering 99.5-foot light structures will disrupt the natural night sky and adversely affect local wildlife.
Traffic Congestion
MCHS is a commuter school where more than 80% of students are not local. Adding more traffic to the evening rush hour and later will only excacerbate existing parking shortages and cause more traffic jams.
Parking Shortages
MCHS does not have enough onsite parking for nightime events, so they plan to let spectator parking spill over into the neighborhood. Converting local streets into short-term event parking is unlawful and dangerous.
Share Your Concerns
FAQs
Please reach out to us with any additional questions or concerns at: PreserveRossValley@gmail.com
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.
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.
What Our Community Is Saying
“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
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“To approve a project that burdens the surrounding neighborhoods in order to raise the profile of Marin Catholic, is wrong.”
Garril Page
“[O]ur right to peaceful evenings will be gone”
Chris Gow-Panzardi
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“The project will undeniably and permanently obstruct the views of many of the homes in Greenbrae.” Jim McClellan
“Daytime views of Mt. Tamalpais would be marred by the four, 80 foot metal poles, and nighttime views would be all but eliminated when the stadium is in use.”
Jim McClellan
“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
” Our quality of life and enjoyment of our homes will be very negatively impacted by this proposal.”
“Prioritizing private football boosters over the thousands of local residents would set an ugly precedent for all Marin communities.”Ben Morris
“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
“….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.”
Ben Morris
“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
“It is not a project that will benefit the community in any way; rather, it will serve Marin Catholic’s private needs and desires only.”
Jim McClellan
“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
“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
“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.”
“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
“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
“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
[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
Join Us In Protecting Our Community
We invite you to stand with us in preserving the tranquility of Ross Valley. Send us an email or letter, volunteer, or attend the upcoming community meeting to express your concerns about nightime stadium events. Together, we can make a difference.