Rose Garden Resident

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Stadium lights could mean Friday night football at high schools

By Linda Taaffe

Friday night football could be coming to Lincoln High School if the San Jose Unified School District moves forward with a proposal to install stadium lights at as many as five of its campuses.

The district hosted neighborhood meetings last week at each of the schools being targeted for lights to survey neighbors about the idea.

Bright lights, however, didn't appear to be the main concern at the Dec. 13 meeting at Lincoln. Neighbors said they were not so much worried about light pollution in their neighborhood as they were about noise, traffic and trash that additional activity at the stadium would potentially generate in the residential neighborhood that surrounds the field.

Neighbors concerned with the proposal say if football games move to the evenings, this will free up afternoon space for other user groups at the stadium, adding more activity to the neighborhood.

"This isn't about football games ... It's about the cumulative effect of activities at the school 300 days out of the year," said one Calaveras Avenue resident, who called the noise and traffic from day activities at the stadium horrific.

Under the proposed plan, the lights would only be used 10 to 12 times a year.

The majority of neighbors at the meeting complained that the district had turned a "deaf ear" to neighbor complaints over the past year.

"If all of the issues with fields were addressed when we called to complain, we wouldn't be here," said neighbor Alan Ziffer.

Superintendent Don Iglesias told residents that the district would not increase the number of games once the lights were installed.

"This is a healthy activity that [students] can do in the evening," Iglesias said. "I'm telling you we're not going to change [the policy]."

Residents who live near Leland and Pioneer high schools expressed similar concerns during meetings held at their campuses.

District spokeswoman Karen Fuqua said the SJUSD board could approve stadium lighting on a campus-by-campus basis. The estimated cost of installing stadium lights all five high schools is between $1 million and $1.25 million, or approximately $250,000 per site, she added, with funding coming from Measure C--a $165 million bond approved by voters in 1997.

The issue should go before the board in March, Fuqua said.

Lincoln will host its second community meeting on Jan.17 at 6:30 p.m. in the multi-media center.