Residents of Radnor, Penn., have voiced concerns about the proposed installation of a new turf field at Delaware County Christian School in the neighboring community of Newton Township.
Lisa Campbell, spokesperson for Delaware County Christian School, told the press: āWe are currently proposing to Newtown Township the installation of a multipurpose synthetic turf field adjacent to Malin Road with state-of-the-art, precision-aimed, dark-sky LED lighting technology.ā It was the lights that sparked the attention of the schoolās neighbors, as they fear it could increase traffic issues at an already busy intersection.
Newton Township Board of Commissioners president Lisa Borowski said in a statement, "The school had notified some of the neighbors that they were putting on a presentation about their plans for the proposed field. The turf field is part of a plan that was approved [by Newtown Township] in 2016 but the school wants to add lights, which they would need to have a variance for. And then they want to rent this field out for other groups to utilize."
Jim Kristoff, a Radnor resident who lives across the road from DCCS, said, āTheyāre talking about having the lights on until 10 p.m. at night and renting the field out so itās not for their own personal useā¦ Iāve lived in this house for nine years and theyāre good neighbors the way it is. If they want to use the field for their own purposes, itās one thing. But if they want to rent it out as a business, it seems like itās an inappropriate place to do that. And itās going to cause problems for the neighborhood.ā
At a Board of Commisioners meeting in December, a group of Radnor residents were denied the right to speak, though they were promised an opportunity to get involved at a subsequent hearing with the zoning board. According to the Daily Times, the group was advised to invest in legal counsel. A timeline for construction of the new field has not yet been established.
