Let CUSD know that there is strong community opposition to their rushed and flawed proposal to install stadium lighting around CHS football field -Please sign this petition!

CHS Stadium lighting will have far reaching effects across our community and natural environment. This proposal requires a thorough and thoughtful evaluation and consultation process, including a well researched and designed EIR that will allow the entire community to comment in a meaningful was. As it currently stands, their Draft EIR is deeply flawed and vague except in its certainty that there will be significant harmful effects from this lighting project that cannot be further mitigated.

We are a group of community members/ Carmel residents who are concerned about the rushed and ill informed effort to push through approval of new stadium lights around CHS football field.

Our group is diverse; comprising parents, grandparents, district alums, long time residents and new arrivals. We live next to the high school and miles away. We all have an appreciation of and commitment to the unique and special place we live in, and share a sense of responsibility in preserving the incredible natural beauty and healthy ecosystems we all enjoy. We also prize the incredible sense of community that comes from living in a smaller town and the importance of supporting excellence in our public school district.

Our concerns over installing stadium lights are many and varied.

They include the predicted negative impacts on the environment from light pollution. These effects are well documented in the Draft EIR. Carmel and Carmel Valley have long sought to protect our dark skies and minimize light pollution through local ordinances limiting lights. The impacts from such large scale lighting will be far reaching and visible throughout the Carmel area, from Jacks Peak to Point Lobos to the Preserve.

The integrity of our coastal viewsheds is threatened by this project, which will also impact our designated scenic highway as well as multiple neighborhoods. We have requested multiple times that the district erect storyboard balloons depicting the height and location of the proposed lights so that the community can visualize the potential impairments to views.

The already problematic issues around traffic and safety will drastically get worse

The switch to a later start time is to be applauded; finally CUSD is following the science and implementing a program that has been shown in multiple studies over the past decade to benefit adolescent students. Many schools have already made this switch and have adjusted their bell schedules with the last period ending between 2:45 and 3:15, still plenty of time to have afternoon practices. And early morning zero periods could also be an option for practices, as they have been for some academic classes at CHS.

And, while the allure of nighttime games is appealing to many, they do little to improve the quality of the actual athletic programs and the educational experience of most students. There should be considerable debate about this ill conceived expenditure of precious public funds running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars that could instead be directed across academic, arts and athletic programs to better enhance the educational experience for all students.

For more detailed information on the potential impacts of the proposed stadium lights and how to get involved please visit our website SaveCarmel.org 

Thank you!