With the proposed lighting of Tatlock fields, the already overburdened Tatlock and Washington Communities are being asked to bear more than their fair share for the sports programs in Summit. Why is the Washington Community being tapped on the shoulder again to step up for the entire sports community when others have failed to do their equitable part?
Washington and Tatlock fields were once grass fields. Beginning in 2004, both fields were converted to turf over considerable objections from the Tatlock Community. It deserves to be repeated here that a commitment was made to residents not to add lights at the Tatlock fields. The upper field at the High School, also in Washington district, was turfed and lit with stadium lights. Now the lower high school field is being converted to turf. All these fields get considerably more usage than the other fields in town because they are turfed. Now the town wants to add even more prolonged usage by lighting them all.
The grass field at Franklin was slated to be turfed at the same time as the Tatlock fields, but that never happened. The Board of Education Admin office says there are no plans to turf the fields at the Middle School, even as they are scheduled to undergo renovations this year. When we asked the DCP about turfing Memorial’s grass fields, we were told the neighbors there would have a fit. When someone asked the DCP about lining the Memorial tennis courts for pickleball, she was told within 14 minutes that they would need resident feedback for that. Just to be clear- 14 minutes for the town to express concern over the Memorial residents experiencing the same noise that the Tatlock Community faces every day. We were advised that the possibility for lights at the Memorial Tennis courts was raised about 15 years ago, but city officials felt lights would upset residents on Ashland and the idea was dropped. There was talk in 2007 about turfing fields at Wilson, but that plan was abandoned when neighbors there made their disapproval known. All these examples highlight the consideration for other neighborhoods’ concerns and the desire to preserve other neighborhood’s green spaces and peace and quiet. They also illustrate that the Tatlock and Washington Communities are being bullied into taking on a disproportionate amount of the sports commitments for the town.
Right now, all the Tatlock Community has left are a few slim hours each evening of peace and tranquility, and the fact that it is up for debate whether we are entitled to that is shocking. By all standards, it would be unjust and unfair for this Council, DCP or Sports Community to ask us to give up the little bit of serenity that is left. The Tatlock Community already does far more than its equitable share.