With no environmental impact study, the Salt Lake City School District installed 2.65 acres of heating, off-gassing artificial turf with crumb rubber infill in the middle of a residential block, just 15 feet away from a dozen private yards, resulting in serious negative environmental impacts. They also installed 70-foot stadium lights which tower over the neighborhood and flood yards with light. 

PETITION TO THE SALT LAKE CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION

We, the undersigned, request that the Salt Lake City Board of Education take action to effectively eliminate the negative impacts upon neighboring homes and yards from the artificial turf with black crumb rubber infill (recycled tires) and the over-scale stadium lighting at the Rosslyn Heights Sports Complex.

We value the sports complex. We value having it open to the community. We support Highland High School athletics. We respect the School District's need for field space for soccer and lacrosse practice & games during the Highland High rebuild.

However, the current design places an enormous amount of artificial turf with off-gassing crumb-rubber infill immediately adjacent to residential properties. This is totally unprecedented; artificial turf is usually used in a stadium or other area away from residential property.  This is equivalent to 2 full NFL football fields, right next to homes. The accompanying stadium lighting is grossly over-scaled for the neighborhood. 

Impacts to surrounding neighbors’ yards include: intense radiant and wind-driven heat, strong plastic & rubber odors from evaporating chemicals, and fugitive light. These impacts interfere with nearby residents' ability to comfortably use and enjoy their own yards. Artificial turf with crumb rubber also results in negative downwind and downstream impacts to air, soil, and water quality, impacting the larger community.

We request the School Board to direct District staff to implement the following meaningful and effective measures, in combination, to address the source of the negative impacts:

1.  Remove the artificial turf and replace it with grass. Artificial turf from both “warm-up” field and main field can be repurposed on the Highland High School field rebuild project where artificial turf is already scheduled to be used, or sold, or used in another District project not near homes.

To respect Highland’s field-scheduling needs, removal can be done in two phases:

a.   Remove the “warm-up” field immediately. It runs the length of multiple private yards and it is unnecessary for Highland High School soccer and lacrosse. Leave this area as a landscaped buffer zone between the main field and adjacent properties.

Due to the lack of adequate buffering, this extra field  increases impacts to adjacent residential properties. It:

·  Significantly increases the surface area of heat-producing artificial turf, and it cannot be meaningfully cooled.

·  Significantly increases the amount of fume-and-odor-producing surface (plastic fibers & crumb rubber infill).

·  Results in lacrosse and soccer balls entering yards at dangerously high speed.

b. After the next soccer & lacrosse season, replace the remainder of the artificial turf (the main field) with real grass. The main athletic field is the largest source of heat and noxious VOC gasses. The longer the artificial remains in place, the greater the impacts occur: intense heat, air pollution, and damage to underlying soil and water.

2. Remove oversized stadium lighting immediately. Store 70-foot poles and fixtures for the new Highland High soccer and lacrosse field to be built in the near future, where there was not previously sufficient budget for lights. 

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BENEFITS:

These measures are reasonable, respectful, and feasible. This mitigation plan strikes an appropriate balance between the needs of Highland High’s athletic programs, District/taxpayer resources, and neighbors’ ability to use & enjoy their own private property.

• These measures benefit the Highland rebuild budget through re-purposing.

• These measures would remove the sources of nuisance and damage to neighboring properties. 

•This will restore this lot as a green space for District athletes and the surrounding community, as it has served for decades.

WHAT THIS PETITION DOES

✅ Preserves a field for Highland High School soccer and lacrosse practice & competition.

✅ Reduces nuisance impacts affecting the homes & yards surrounding the Sports Complex (the heat-island effect; noxious rubber odors; toxicity to air, water and soil; and fugitive light)

✅ Protects adjacent neighbors' ability to enjoy their own yards and homes.

✅ Seeks practical, effective solutions to nuisance impacts, rather than ineffective/cosmetic fixes.

WHAT THIS PETITION DOES NOT DO

❌ It does not eliminate Highland High's athletic field for Highland soccer or lacrosse teams to practice & compete on, which the District has consistently identified as the primary purpose of this complex along with the tennis courts.

❌ It does not limit the neighborhood’s ability to use and enjoy the sports complex, and it could enhance the community’s enjoyment due to lower surface heat for many months of the year for users of the field.  

 ❌ It does not oppose the Rosslyn Heights Sports Complex facility or athletics.

❌ It does not require the District to waste or discard any artificial turf. (Artificial turf can be reused in the Highland fields rebuild to save money, reused at other District sites with sufficient space and buffering from private property, or sold.) 

❌ It does not significantly alter the overall site layout; it only removes the extraneous "warm-up field," but the main soccer and lacrosse field would remain, although made of grass instead of artificial turf. 

Aerial photograph courtesy of Trent Nelson, Tribune news