- October 7, 2024
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Palm Coast is working on applying for grants with the county’s Tourism Development Council to hopefully add more lighting to Palm Coast parks.
The topic of lighting came up during a presentation to the Palm Coast City Council on the upgrades Ralph Carter Park is undergoing. The park’s fields were closed on June 3 for a multi-month repair project to regrade and resod the fields.
The Ralph Carter Park fields are two of only 11 city parks with lighting, Parks and Recreation Director James Hirst said. Palm Coast has 26 fields in all.
Ralph Carter’s fields are the second-most popular fields to use, according to city data on field-use permits, and residents nearby had been issuing complaints on the noise and light pollution for years. The Indian Trails Sports Complex receives the most, but in 2023, Palm Coast issued almost 500 permits for Ralph Carter Parks’ field use, according to city meeting documents.
All the city’s unlit fields combined received almost as many permits issued, the data shows. In total, Hirst said, 98% of all permits the city receives are for the lighted parks.
Hirst said the department works to mitigate the noise and light pollution. At the same time, the city's youth and adult sports organizations are growing.
"They are using a lot more space, and it's, you know, we try our best to kind of alleviate and take them to different parks," he said. "But ultimately, these are the only other two lit fields, other than Indian Trails."
When council member Theresa Carli Pontieri asked staff about plans to add lighting to the other city parks — she and Vice Mayor Ed Danko attended the June 3 meeting virtually, while the remaining members were present in person — Acting City Manager Lauren Johnston said that the city is working on the applications for grants.
“We will actually be submitting for field lighting at the [Indian Trails] Sports Complex, not only for baseball, softball, but for also our multi-purpose fields out there for a tourism enhancement,” she said.
The Indian Trails Sports Complex does already have nine lighted fields on site, but has a total of 16 fields within the complex. Five of the lighted fields at the complex are multi-purpose fields similar to those at Ralph Carter Park, according to meeting documents.
The applications are due next week, Johnston said.
The field work is just the latest of improvements being conducted at Ralph Carter Park, Hirst said. In response to resident comments, the multi-purpose fields’ bulb now have longer visors and the lights have been redirected to prevent light pollution over the last several months.
The park also has new hours, effective immediately: the field lights will be shut off at 9 p.m. while the basketball and skate park lights will remain on until 10 p.m.
