Little League Plan Draws Fire From Neighborhood Residents

A proposal by Madison Little League to put up six-foot fencing and foul poles around a town-owned neighborhood ball field on Scotland Avenue has residents of that neighborhood concerned about whether the ball field's growth will have a detrimental effect on the neighborhood. 

Jaycee Field, 85 Scotland Avenue, is approximately 6.5 acres at the end of Scotland Avenue near the intersection with Railroad Avenue. The town-owned property extends over to Lover's Lane, on the other side. The field is used for several months out of the year by Madison Little League. 

Madison Little League President Scott Murphy said at a Board of Selectmen meeting several weeks ago that the group would like to make a donation, worth between $10,000 and $12,000, that would allow for the installation of a permanent six-foot fence made of silver chain link. The fence and foul poles would allow the organization to host "professional tournaments," Murphy said. 

Board of Selectmen approve donation, Board of Finance tables it

At that meeting, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the purchase. Residents of the neighborhood, who did not know about the plan, but read about it in Madison Patch, showed up for the next Board of Selectmen meeting to take them to task for approving the donation before the plan was accepted by the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC). The plan has to go before the PZC for a special exception permit before the fences can be built. 

The selectmen responded that their action was only to accept the donation, not to pass judgement on how the PZC should handle the application. When the same proposal came before the Board of Finance Wednesday night, that board tabled it pending the decision by the PZC, said Tracey Kersteen, one of the neighbors who is concerned about the proposal. 

She said a large group of Little League supporters showed up for the Board of Finance meeting Wednesday night, and that she expects the same to happen Thursday, May 2, when the PZC has scheduled a public hearing on the application for a special exception permit at 8 p.m. at town campus off of Duck Hole Road.  

"Next week at the PZC should be interesting"

"Next week at the PZC should be interesting," Kersteen said. "We can't beat the Madison Little League when it comes to turning out the numbers [at town meetings], but we do want to have our say. This is our neighborhood. And we don't mind baseball. We're concerned that the continual growth of the field into something that can host professional tournaments will affect the neighborhood for the worst." 

Already, Kersteen said, the neighborhood has to put up with the cars that park alongside the road during games. The kids are great, Kersteen said, who added that she loves baseball. But the parents? Sometimes, not so much. She said that the cars are sometimes parked so that mailboxes are blocked and residents cannot receive mail or retrieve it from their mailbox. And sometimes debris and trash is left behind after a big game.

Kersteen said she and the other neighbors, which includes Carla van Dijk, and Teresa and Yale Badik, are worried that the field might end up looking like the Indian River Complex in Clinton, CT. She said that's the only place she could find nearby that had comparable fencing. 

Neighbors say they've asked for a long-range plan for six years

She said that, for five or six years, neighborhood residents have been asking Madison Little League for a meeting where the group's long-range plans could be discussed, but that has not happened. 

"In all these years of asking for a long-range plan, we have never gotten one," she said. In the meantime, a wide range of improvements have been made, including the installation of a scoreboard, a new dugout, and a new concession stand. "Last night [at the Board of Finance meeting] we finally said, if you can't give us a long-range plan, then at least give us what you're not going to do." 

Kersteen said there seemed to be concern about some of the Little League parents that plans for a baseball field at the town's newest park, Constitution Park, did not work out. "That's where they wanted their field. That's why they voted for the park. Then, the town said you can't put fences there and said, don't worry, we're going to make Scotland Avenue what you want." 

"Every year, we fight it and fight it" 

"Every year, we fight it and fight it. And trees are taken down. And the park gets more developed," she said. "And they won't give us a long-range plan. We worry they are trying to make this park just like Clinton's Indian River." 

Kersteen said the town's property extends over to Lover's Lane, where the VFW is currently located as a lease on town-owned property. When that lease expires, will the town consider extending the field or parking onto that property, she asked. That's why the neighborhood wants to know more about a long-term plan, she said. 

"We're their obstacle. They'd like us to go away. But we can't. We live there," she said. "It's an eclectic neighborhood. We love it there. And the property values are solid. We had one house for sale recently, we got six bids in one week, and it sold for a very good price. If we have an eyesore sitting at the end of the road, then what? This is the wrong place for this, it is a neighborhood park." 

Neighbors ask for more communication, reconsideration of plan

In a letter to Madison Little League Chairman Scott Murphy, Scotland Avenue resident Carla van Dijk asked for more communication from the group to the neighborhood residents. She also asked that they reconsider their plan. 

"It's really too bad, Scott, that you and Little League have chosen this route. It is very upsetting to see what Little League is doing to this neighborhood, year after year chipping away at a plan that is totally inappropriate for this street and area, changing that park from a small, neighborhood ball field and slowly but surely ruining our property values," she wrote. "What is the obsession that there seems to be with this field and turning it into something that just does not fit? There is no capacity here for tournaments and the volume of traffic it would entail." 

"Little boys just want to play baseball. As parents, we involve them in baseball to teach them, not only about the sport, but to work together on a team and to learn good sportsmanship. Those important attributes can be taught without spending thousands of dollars to create a ball field that those boys don't really care about. They just want to play ball and have fun!" 

Editor's Note: This article was corrected at 10:09 a.m. Friday, April 26, 2013 to reflect the correct date for the PZC meeting. Thank you to reader who caught that and contacted us.