The following  article appeared in the May 1, 2003 Kirkland Courier:

The Lights Across the Lake

Concerns raised over new sports fields in Seattle's Magnuson Park

By Bill Putnam

Susan Altig-Smith has enjoyed what the Kirkland resident calls "the beauty of Lake Washington" since moving into her house 15 years ago. And part of the spectacular view she enjoys from her lakefront home is of Seattle's Magnuson Park.

Now she's worried that this view will be tarnished after reading an article in the King County Journal about Seattle's plan to build a 22 acre sports complex at the popular park.

Altig-Smith isn't the only Kirkland resident who feels that way.

Mark Eliasen is a property owner in the Moss Bay neighborhood. He was unaware of Seattle's Magnuson Park plans until he attended a March 17 neighborhood association meeting.

A Seattle group, friends of Magnuson Park, made a presentation about the proposed sports complex. The one element about that presentation that really stood out for Eliasen was the photo of a light at the park, he said. A letter was written on behalf of the Moss Bay Neighborhood Association to the Kirkland City Council showing their concern about the plan.

The plan to build the sports complex goes back almost 30 years, said Doug Ancona, a member of the Friends of Magnuson Park. In the middle 1970s the U.S. Navy closed the old Sand Point Naval Air Station. In the process they gave half of the property to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the other half to the Seattle Parks Department.

The two sides then went on two different paths. NOAA decided to keep its half as a campus and a place to conduct wildlife research. Seattle turned its half into a park and made plans to redevelop the land.

What Seattle wants to do is put up a sports complex with sports fields, some lighted, some not.

No one is against sports fields, said Ancona. Altig-Smith and Eliasen echoed that sentiment in a separate interview.

What the FOMP is against, and what Altig-Smith and Eliasen are concerned about, is the lighting.

"People are concerned how this is going to affect Kirkland," said Eliasen. "We're not trying to be selfish about this."

According to the FOMP Web site, Seattle plans to install more than 600 1000-watt lights to illuminate the fields

That will, in Ancona's view, destroy what is good about Magnuson Park and affect the region around Lake Washington.

Organized to keep the lighted fields out of the park, they've presented their take on Seattle's plan throughout the region, including to Kirkland neighborhood association meetings.

Popular support against the plan has grown, said Ancona. But Seattle plans to begin the first phase of construction this summer.

Eric Friedli said that the complex is a hot-button issue for the neighbors of Magnuson Park, but isn't so sure that Kirkland residents have any reason to be concerned. Friedli, the director of Magnuson Park, said that only four of the eight soccer fields will be lit. He added that two baseball diamonds, and three softball diamonds will be installed and also will be lit.

Friedli admits that the lights meant to illuminate those four soccer fields are a big issue. But, he said, the city has conducted extensive research and said the new, modern lights should not be a problem. New technology allows for shielding the lights from throwing their glare over a wide area, he said, "to minimize as much as we can the amount of light that spills out."

Be that as it may, FOMP said that no matter which way it’s cut, more than 600,000 watts of lights, even if shielded will be almost as bright as Safeco Field.

Friedli said that's because the Mariners need that amount of lighting for television and fan safety in the bleachers. At the Magnuson Park complex, the minimum amount of light will be used because games won't be televised, and there won't be many bleachers.

Another concern is noise. Altig-Smith said she can hear noise from the park on her porch during the day.

Friedli said that the Seattle Parks department is still looking into hours of operation. Lighting until 11 p.m. every day of the year is the worst case scenario.  Most baseball fields won't be used past 9 30 pm, three or four nights a week

Soccer is a different sport. It's played year-round, and some fields will "be lit until 11p.m. or so," he said.

What has not been determined is how long the fields will be lit. That decision will be announced when the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department delivers its amended Environmental Impact Statement to the Seattle Hearing Examiner in May

With that in mind, Eliasen was curious why Kirkland hasn't talked Seattle about this.

That's because the decision to start the project has already been made said Kirkland City Councilmember Dave Asher.

"Once a decision has been made, trying to open it back up is very to road to hoe," he added.

What concerns Asher about project is the amount of lighting won’t make for a very aesthetic view. "This is our front porch right there," he said.

In any case, Asher said, Kirkland hasn't come out with a position because they don't know how big the problem is going to be in the end.  The City Council has to go to Seattle with a specific case showing their concerns.

"There isn't one just yet," Asher noted. What troubles Asher about Seattle's Environmental Impact Statement was the lack of information about the complex's impact on the Eastside.

"It sounds like Seattle needs to take into consideration impacts on the east, and we're not sure if they've done that," said Asher.

But Asher is confident that Seattle will be a good neighbor:

"It's not at a crisis yet, but we must be diligent to make sure it doesn't get there."

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