Use of Athletic Fields and Athletic Field Lights at Fairfax County Park Authority Fields
Your group has received a field assignment at a Fairfax County Park Authority site within Area 5 of the Park Operations Division that has an athletic field lighting system. The time of the permit is late enough that you may need to use the lights. Please understand that in most cases the lights may be used for games only.
To aid in administering this policy, users are asked to provide schedules of games, and for those allowed schedules of practices. For groups that post schedules on the Internet, the address of the web site will suffice for this purpose. Schedules may also be e-mailed, faxed, mailed or called in by telephone. Contact information is contained at the end of this letter.
Policy 402 of the Fairfax County Park Authority Policy Manual states, "The use of athletic field lighting, except on artificial surfaces, by organized sports shall be limited to games only. The single season sport of football shall be exempted from this policy and shall be permitted to engage in lighted practices." For purposes of this policy, youth football, which is only played during the fall season in Fairfax County, is considered a single season sport, and youth football teams may use lights for practice. Adult flag football, which is played during both the spring and fall seasons, is not a single season sport, and adult flag football teams may not use lights to practice.
The lighting policy serves to slow deterioration of fields, many of which are already over used. The policy serves to limit the negative impacts on neighbors caused by the noise and glare associated with nighttime athletic field use. The policy reduces electricity consumption, freeing funds for field maintenance. Reduced electricity consumption also reduces pollution, serving to further the Park Authority's environmental stewardship objectives.
Fields with newer lighting systems have sophisticated controllers which can be programmed with a high degree of accuracy from a PC or telephone. The Park Authority will program the lights according to user provided schedules. Within Area 5, programmable lighting control systems are in place at Arrowhead Park, Braddock Park, Chantilly Library Site, Colin Powell Elementary School, Ellanor C. Lawrence Park and Greenbriar Park. These newer lights also have ON and OFF push buttons located in weather tight boxes. In order to turn on the lights, users need to push the ON button for their field after the lighting program begins. Users should always close the box after turning the lights on or off to protect the electrical systems from the weather. The lighting program can only be entered in increments of 15 minutes on the quarter hour. The program will begin no earlier than 30 minutes before the first scheduled game or 1 hour before sunset, whichever is later. In no case will the lighting program begin before the start of your permit unless the preceding user was using the lights. The lights will shut off automatically no later than 30 minutes after the scheduled end of your last game, when your permit expires or when the lighting curfew for the site begins, whichever occurs first. If you are finished before the lights go off automatically and you are the last scheduled user for the night, please turn the lights off manually by pushing the OFF button. At facilities with multiple ON/OFF buttons in the same location, take extreme care to turn off the lights for the correct field, or leave the lights on so as not to inconvenience or endanger other players by shutting off the lights for the wrong field.
When the athletic field lights shut off, typically one or more poles remain lit. These are egress lights. They are intended to allow players and fans to gather belongings and exit the area without having to do so in total darkness. When the main lights go off and only the egress lights remain on, all play must cease immediately.
Do not under any circumstances attempt to enter any locked electrical building or cabinet. These contain high voltage electrical equipment. Further, the lighting controller can not be programmed on site, so attempts at entering these buildings or cabinets are both pointless and dangerous.
If there are problems with the lights, there is no “on call” staff to help. However, management realizes that lighting failures are a tremendous burden for users, and we try to make our selves available. Contacts for the listed fields are Area 5 Manager Ed Richardson, cell 571-265-1874 and home 703-941-3927, or Area 5 Athletic Fields Manager Jason Houchins, pager 703-787-6223.
The Park Authority at its discretion may close a field for the purpose of maintenance, for safety or any other reason deemed appropriate for the management or protection of property. Most typically, this is done during or following periods of inclement weather. Monday through Friday maintenance staff makes such decisions prior to 2 PM. The information is available to the public by 3 PM, either on the Field Status Page of the Park Authority web site at http://s51b209.co.fairfax.va.us/parks/fieldstatus.asp or by calling the Park Field Status Line at 703-324-5264. If staff has closed a field, the decision is final and any lighting programs for closed fields will be deleted. It is advisable to check field status daily. Field status should always be checked on any day when there is significant precipitation anywhere in the County, any day after significant precipitation events and any day following a field closure.
At times when there is no staff presence or very limited staff presence in the parks, users are expected to make field playability decisions on their own. This includes weekday evenings if there has been precipitation after 2 PM and all day on weekends. The Park Authority has developed objective criteria to determine field playability. Subjective criteria such as an individual’s opinion that a field is playable should never be used.
Under the Park Authority’s criteria, users should consider that a field is closed if any of the following conditions exist;
1. There is standing water on any portion of the field.
2. The sound of a footstep (squish-squish) can be heard while walking on the field.
3. While standing on the field, water can be observed gathering around the sole of the foot.
4. While walking (not running) across a grass portion of the field, a footprint is left in the soil (not just the grass bending over).
5. While walking (not running) on a dirt portion of a field, an impression ½” or deeper is made in the soil.
In the event that users close fields, they can try to contact staff to have lighting schedules deleted. This can help to protect fields from inappropriate play, and it will save money and reduce pollution. For groups that post cancellations on web sites or telephone rain lines please provide us with those contacts.
On weekends, there is a limited staff presence. These staff members may close fields. If weekend staff determines a field is closed and address it to users on site, play must stop immediately. Closures may be indicated by signs at the fields. If staff has closed a field on a weekend, attempts will be made to contact users. Weekend staff may also reopen fields the same day if conditions improve. If weekend staff has determined a field should be closed all day, lighting schedules will be deleted.
Ed Richardson
Fairfax County Park Authority
Area 5 Manager
Office Phone 703-222-8774