FormerWildcat
12-17-08, 01:11 PM
Odd story out of Dublin. Must have been a slow news day.
Dublin Jerome baseball field: Spectators moving from mound to plateau (http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/dublin/stories/2008/12/10/baseball_mound.html?sid=104)
Dublin Jerome baseball field
Spectators moving from mound to plateau
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 6:56 PM
By BRITTINY DUNLAP
ThisWeek Staff Writer
Jerome High School students won't be able to root for their baseball team next season from a mound behind the center-field fence.
But in a compromise approved by Dublin's planning and zoning commission, the students will be able to cheer from a raised plateau overlooking the field.
The commission approved the school district's proposal in a 6-0 vote Dec. 11. Commission member Kevin Walter was absent.
To appease concerns of neighboring residents, the commission approved construction in 2005 of a 4-foot mound behind the Jerome baseball field to help buffer noise generated by the games. However, an unapproved addition to the mound, reaching 7 feet high, also was built.
Students began gathering on the higher mound to watch games. The students, who call themselves the "Hilltoppers," took along a grill as well as a gong and an electric guitar.
Residents complained that the fans, typically a group of six to 24 students, were a nuisance.
The planning and zoning commission agreed with the school district's idea to lower the mound from 7 feet to 4 feet. The mound that continues to the west along the fence will be increased to 9 feet high and widened to 12 feet. Twenty-six trees will be added to prevent spectators from gathering.
However, a 350-square-foot plateau will be built for spectators within the widened section of the mound. It will be 7 feet high -- and 125 feet farther away from nearby homes.
An additional 277 parking spaces will be added to an existing lot in an effort to eliminate people parking in the neighboring Belvedere subdivision.
Commissioner Chris Amorose-Groomes said the decision was based only on zoning issues.
Commissioner Flite Freimann said, "I continue to hear the concerns from the citizens who live on Greenstone Loop who are inconvenienced. I don't think there's anything in our power that we can do to alleviate that inconvenience."
Several parents, neighbors, administrators and students spoke at the commission meeting on the importance the mound to school culture.
"It is like the large rock that stands outside Coffman," said Jerome High School student Kelly Brothers. "As a young school our senior classes have tried to build traditions for classes to come. This hill is a part of that. It has built culture, community and school spirit among all of us. Taking away the hill would be extremely unfortunate."
A group of Jerome students worked with the school administration to develop a list of rules for the mound. The rules will be enforced by the students and administrators who will supervise the mound at every game, said Jerome principal Cathy Sankey.
"Anytime a group of high school kids are at an athletic activity, it's a good thing," said Bellow Valley Drive resident Tawnya Ewert. "This school is still in its infancy and is still establishing traditions. This exemplifies the best at what high school is about. If we discourage these positive activities what message are we sending to them?"
Some residents feel differently.
"No one moved into this neighborhood to not support the high school," said Greenstone Loop resident Lori Russell. "But it's been such turmoil. We have been the brunt of so much antagonism and ugliness."
Russell, who lives directly behind the mound, will not let her children play outside during the baseball games. She has said students walk through her yard and curse at her children.
Commission members said the school district had gone to great lengths to try to solve the problem.
"I drove around Columbus and looked at other high school baseball fields. I thought to myself, 'Wow, am I lucky to live in Dublin.' I saw no other baseball field in the city that had the buffer and attempt to appease the neighbors that Dublin's did," commission member Warren Fishman said.
Dublin Jerome baseball field: Spectators moving from mound to plateau (http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/dublin/stories/2008/12/10/baseball_mound.html?sid=104)
Dublin Jerome baseball field
Spectators moving from mound to plateau
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 6:56 PM
By BRITTINY DUNLAP
ThisWeek Staff Writer
Jerome High School students won't be able to root for their baseball team next season from a mound behind the center-field fence.
But in a compromise approved by Dublin's planning and zoning commission, the students will be able to cheer from a raised plateau overlooking the field.
The commission approved the school district's proposal in a 6-0 vote Dec. 11. Commission member Kevin Walter was absent.
To appease concerns of neighboring residents, the commission approved construction in 2005 of a 4-foot mound behind the Jerome baseball field to help buffer noise generated by the games. However, an unapproved addition to the mound, reaching 7 feet high, also was built.
Students began gathering on the higher mound to watch games. The students, who call themselves the "Hilltoppers," took along a grill as well as a gong and an electric guitar.
Residents complained that the fans, typically a group of six to 24 students, were a nuisance.
The planning and zoning commission agreed with the school district's idea to lower the mound from 7 feet to 4 feet. The mound that continues to the west along the fence will be increased to 9 feet high and widened to 12 feet. Twenty-six trees will be added to prevent spectators from gathering.
However, a 350-square-foot plateau will be built for spectators within the widened section of the mound. It will be 7 feet high -- and 125 feet farther away from nearby homes.
An additional 277 parking spaces will be added to an existing lot in an effort to eliminate people parking in the neighboring Belvedere subdivision.
Commissioner Chris Amorose-Groomes said the decision was based only on zoning issues.
Commissioner Flite Freimann said, "I continue to hear the concerns from the citizens who live on Greenstone Loop who are inconvenienced. I don't think there's anything in our power that we can do to alleviate that inconvenience."
Several parents, neighbors, administrators and students spoke at the commission meeting on the importance the mound to school culture.
"It is like the large rock that stands outside Coffman," said Jerome High School student Kelly Brothers. "As a young school our senior classes have tried to build traditions for classes to come. This hill is a part of that. It has built culture, community and school spirit among all of us. Taking away the hill would be extremely unfortunate."
A group of Jerome students worked with the school administration to develop a list of rules for the mound. The rules will be enforced by the students and administrators who will supervise the mound at every game, said Jerome principal Cathy Sankey.
"Anytime a group of high school kids are at an athletic activity, it's a good thing," said Bellow Valley Drive resident Tawnya Ewert. "This school is still in its infancy and is still establishing traditions. This exemplifies the best at what high school is about. If we discourage these positive activities what message are we sending to them?"
Some residents feel differently.
"No one moved into this neighborhood to not support the high school," said Greenstone Loop resident Lori Russell. "But it's been such turmoil. We have been the brunt of so much antagonism and ugliness."
Russell, who lives directly behind the mound, will not let her children play outside during the baseball games. She has said students walk through her yard and curse at her children.
Commission members said the school district had gone to great lengths to try to solve the problem.
"I drove around Columbus and looked at other high school baseball fields. I thought to myself, 'Wow, am I lucky to live in Dublin.' I saw no other baseball field in the city that had the buffer and attempt to appease the neighbors that Dublin's did," commission member Warren Fishman said.