At the September 6, 2022 Board of Supervisors business meeting, the Board of Supervisors instructed the County to withdraw their application to add additional lighting to the existing ballfields at Scott Jenkins Park outside of Hamilton, and the County Administrator formally withdrew the application. The primary grounds for withdrawal revolved around the commitment of Supervisors to honor the original 2009 conditions of approval for the park that prohibited lighting at the ballfields.
In April 2022, the Planning Commission recommended the denial of this special exception application. While acknowledging the necessity of the ballfields and technological advances since the initial approval of the park, the primary findings for denial are the incompatibility of lighted fields with the rural character of the area and the inability to ensure minimal impacts from light pollution on the surrounding properties. The Board of Supervisors moved to withdraw the application after deliberation showed that the special exception request would be denied if voted on. This decision came after considerable pushback from the community during the lengthy public comment period for this item.
While the withdrawal of this application is certainly a success for wildlife conservation efforts, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy remains vigilant on peripheral issues that may arise from this decision. It is likely that similar efforts to increase usage and accessibility by adding lighting will be directed to different ballfields in Loudoun County. These efforts could have similar negative impacts on wildlife if such applications are approved.
There are a myriad of conservation issues that proposals to add lighting to fields presents. This disruption of dark skies has detrimental effects on local ecosystems, especially insect populations. Additional lighting can have environmental and agricultural impacts to neighboring properties, some of which could be under conservation easements.
Loudoun Wildlife continues to monitor new development applications that have the potential to impact dark skies and nocturnal wildlife.
Additional information on Scott Jenkins Park and dark skies:
County Update on Scott Jenkins Park decision
Neighborhood Concerns
Advocacy Alert for Scott Jenkins Park
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy position statement
International Dark Skies Association article on impacts to wildlife