Editorial: Marin Catholic must validate supervisors’ trust with cooperative field lights plan

For Marin Catholic High School, the installation of “Friday Night Lights” is an investment into the health of its students and the community’s youth.

After years of debate and studies, the county has given the Kentfield high school the go-ahead to install lights for its sports field.

Supervisor Katie Rice, whose district includes the Ross Valley, said she was convinced by reports, public comments and previous studies that the lights won’t have a significant environmental impact.

She and other board members agreed with staff that the school’s plans did not need more study.

But they should have an impact on the health of local student athletes, some of whom have to travel off-campus for practice or games.

The lights are for more than nighttime football games. They will allow students in other sports time and space to practice without having to drive to other locations. Classroom teachers won’t have to release students early so they can make off-campus practices.

At the same time, while the installation of lights has been debated over the years, that time has also created lighting improvements that promise to reduce the impact of the lights on surrounding neighborhoods.

The plan calls for installing four 80-foot-tall light poles.

Over the years, proposals to install field lights have drawn stiff opposition from neighbors who live near the school, raising issues similar to those who fought the lights that were finally installed at San Marin High School’s football field in Novato.

Before San Marin’s lights were turned on, San Rafael High School was the only Marin campus with a lighted field.

In both cases, the high schools are faced with growing student interest in prep sports, but there’s a limit on the space available for practices and games. Putting lights on the fields helps meet that need.

Not everyone is happy about the county’s decision. The supervisors’ vote overturned the county Planning Commission’s decision to require the school to commission an independent environmental study.

As part of the county’s approval, Marin Catholic has also agreed to strict time limits for the lights.

The lights are not going to be shining late into the night.

During the fall and winter, the lights will allow Marin Catholic as many as 10 Friday night football games. The lights will be turned off by 9:30 p.m.

The lights will be on half-power for weekday practices and will be turned off earlier, in some cases as early as 7:15 p.m.

The school is also required to host two neighborhood meetings every year to discuss concerns and establish a 24/7 hotline for complaints and questions.

“My goal is to make the Board of Supervisors proud,” Tim Navone, the school’s president, said after the supervisors’ vote.

County staff has also promised to monitor the school’s compliance with the requirements.

Brian Colbert, who is succeeding Rice in that supervisorial district, should make an annual compliance review a priority.

Marin Catholic’s success in meeting those requirements and its commitment to being a “good neighbor” should soon make that monitoring unnecessary.

Keeping its focus on the importance of meeting the healthful needs of the school’s student athletes should drive that compliance and this long-term local issue to a point when it will no longer be a matter of community debate.