If the Board of County Commissioners violates Special District Overlay protections here, imagine what could happen in your neighborhood.

We value the character and quality of life offered in Palm Valley, and the stadium lights are incompatible with this area:

• The magnitude of the lights is a violation of the Overlay District protections. The proposed lights would be 3.5X taller than the height allowed by the Overlay District.

• Parks and sports field architects and engineering and planning firm experts stated they would not recommend adding lights to the athletic fields due to their location and numerous site design flaws.

• Sports lights are 100% incompatible with the surrounding area. There are no tall structures; there is no buffer from the neighborhoods except for a few scattered trees, which are insufficient to block the lights’ height that will be visible from every angle for almost a mile – day and night.

• Scientists and environmental experts agree that artificial light pollution disrupts, with dire consequences, the lives of migratory birds and the natural habitat of protected areas – one which is a mere 150 away from the park. This area is part of The Atlantic Flyway, the second-largest migrating path for 3.5 Billion birds that make the annual round trip.

• Additional playing time equals more traffic. As night falls, the danger increases as cars pull out onto A1A, with two lanes lacking acceleration/deceleration lanes, street illumination, and a posted 55mph speed limit.

In summary, the magnitude of the proposed lights will create a seismic disturbance in the geography with the 24-hour visual blight that degrades and devalues the surrounding communities. The light towers will have a detrimental economic effect on the residents of Palm Valley and, over time, a domino impact on the entire Ponte Vedra Beach community.