After a public hearing at which all nine speakers endorsed the changes, Roanoke City Council voted 6-1 to change the proffers regarding the use of Gainer Field, Patrick Henry’s turf stadium. More teams will be able to practice there under the lights after Tuesday’s 6-1 vote, and the public address system used only for varsity football and soccer will now be turned on for girls and boys lacrosse as well.
School Board Chairman David Carson noted that he started talking to neighborhood groups in the Raleigh Court area almost a year ago about changing the restrictive proffers that were conditions for approval of the on campus stadium just four years ago.
With the school day at PH ending an hour later now, shortening the daylight hours available for practice, Carson said there were “a number of coaches and students and parents who are most anxious [for this] decision.”
Carson also said the “gloom and doom predicted has not come to pass,” from those who were worried about excess trash, noise, cars parked in local neighborhoods, etc. The “simple mistake” of leaving the lacrosse teams out of the proffer that allows the public address system to be used at their games should also be corrected noted Carson.
The Raleigh Court Civic League was willing to accept most of the proffer revisions being requested but opposed the PA System change, saying that more study needed to be done. In a recent email to Carson, Civic League President Susan Koch stated, “The School Board has conducted tests of the PA system, and has a plan to focus more of the sound on the field. . . . In the meantime, we recommend that the existing proffer relating to the sound system remain in effect. While tests may show that the sound level is at a “conversational” level, that’s not as benign as it might seem. It is like having an uninvited guest at the dinner table, talking over and interrupting the family conversation. That can be very disruptive. It’s much like a barking dog, and there’s no way to shut it out.”
While no one spoke against the changes at the Tuesday meeting, neighborhood opposition was given at a Jan. 21st planning commission meeting and in recent newspaper editorials. Raleigh Court resident Maureen Meiger commented, “We are all citizens in this community and should be treated equally. Is it fair that the school is exempt from the noise ordinance, yet you and I can be ticketed? What about the adults and children in the surrounding neighborhood? Don’t they have the right to sleep when they want, enjoy their yards and decks without a PA System or band practice drowning out their thoughts?”
The change in proffers will allow the Patrick Henry marching band to practice at Gainer Field; it will also allow middle schools to use the field and expands the use of lights until 10 p.m. Patrice Freelin, with the PH Parents/Teachers/Students Association, assured those objecting that, “we take being good neighbors very seriously.”
Sophomore lacrosse player Clayborn Lucas bemoaned the lack of a PA system at her home games: “Most of the fans are unenthusiastic to come to our games because of the dull atmosphere. [It’s] embarrassing.”
Patrick Henry Principal Connie Ratcliffe called the exclusion of lacrosse teams and the band from being able to use Gainer Field “oversights.” Athletic director Patty Sheedy said it was “unfair not to have the PA,” at the varsity lacrosse games. Eight spring teams are looking for outdoor practice space at the school.
Only Mayor David Bowers objected to making any changes at this time, also noting that he supported renovations to Victory Stadium instead of building an on campus field at PH. “I don’t think [the proffers] ought to be changed at this point,” said Bowers.
Councilwoman Anita Price, noting that William Fleming will soon have a new outdoor field of its own, said there were “lessons learned,” from the original proffers that might have been too restrictive. The changes she and five others voted for were, in her words, “quite reasonable.”
By Gene Marrano [email protected]
