It was supposed to be an appeal of a Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission denial over lighting concerns at the sports field on Tiger Trail and Hood Avenue owned by Thomas Stephens.

Mayor Ken Steele at the Aug. 20 City Council meeting almost immediately sent the issue back to city planning staff. That led to some agitated comments from nearby affected homeowners Joel and Rebecca Eberhardt and from some on the council.

The property in question is immediately north of Fayette County High School and forms the corner of Tiger Trail and Hood Avenue. Portable lights have been used at the site for some time by various athletic teams.

Stephens recently submitted a proposal to install permanent light poles on the property. The issue was tabled in June to give him time to address the city’s requirement to have a plan that complied with lighting standards and to remove the portable toilets that were present.

Planning and Zoning commissioners at the July 28 meeting voted to deny the revised lighting plan.

Planning and Zoning Director Eldridge Gunn said in an Aug. 10 memo that Stephens would appeal the decision and that he was, “completing the revised lighting plan with emphasis on the proper lighting for the sports activities on the site. We believe the focus of his appeal will be that the city’s lighting standards do not specifically address site lighting for sports fields and that his plans will better meet both his needs and the spirit of the lighting ordinance.”

Gunn added that Stephens had submitted two lighting plans but had suggested that it was unlikely that he would pursue permanent lighting due to the exorbitant cost involved.

In a relatively brief comment from Steele on the agenda item at the Aug. 20 meeting, he directed city staff to work with Stephens to ensure that lighting at the site be sufficient for sports play with minimal impact. Staff are to come up with a recommendation and, if necessary, bring the project back to the council.

Joel Eberhardt was first to comment on the decision. Among other points, he said the lighting was temporary and is powered by mechanical means, citing a city ordinance that he said indicated that temporary lighting could be used only at construction sites.

During the brief presentation Steele interjected the council’s decision minutes earlier to have city planning and zoning staff work with to address the issues. Steele said that the project is useful for the community. Fayetteville as a municipality has no recreation department.

Joel’s comments were followed by his wife Rebecca’s. Within seconds of the beginning of her comments Steele interrupted her, injecting that the council was not going to make an issue of the situation and that council members had the full support of city staff as it related to the appeal.

Rebecca responded, saying she was not there to make an issue of the situation but rather was there to inform the council about the circumstances under which she and her husband were living. Rebecca, while continuing to converse with Steele and then with council members Larry Dell and Al Hovey-King, said that the operation is a “vibratory, gas-powered lighting system that vibrates their home, their bed and goes on until 10 p.m. on many nights.”

“It’s a commercial endeavor on private property. Those lights are harassing the residents, the taxpayers,” Rebecca said. “We have endured this way too long. Our properties are lit, (the light) comes into our bedroom window.”

There was no one else at the meeting to substantiate Rebecca Eberhardt’s claim. In fact, there are few residences in the immediate area along that portion of Hood Avenue.

The conversation continued for two or three minutes, with Rebecca interacting with Steele and Dell. Parties at the podium and at the council table cut each other off as voices elevated. Steele then cut Rebecca off and thanked her for her comments. The issue did not end there.

During the comments of another person, Rebecca interjected other remarks from her seat, at which Steele suggested that she might be held in contempt if she did not yield to the next speaker. Steele ended the exchange by saying that she had been given time to speak.

One of the Eberhardt’s claims that the sports field is not appropriate for the property because it is zoned R-22 does not appear to hold true today. The council voted July 16 to amend the zoning ordinance to allow active/passive parks operated by non-profits and for community purposes in all residential zoning categories. Issues such as lighting are to be approved by the Planing and Zoning Commission.