Commission approves Rockville School Park upgrades with parking, signage and hours conditions

The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of CUP2025-0024 to expand parking and add a baseball field at Rockville School Park, subject to several amendments negotiated during the hearing.

Staff told commissioners the amendment updates a 1992 CUP to authorize a baseball field, batting/pitching practice areas and a 136-space parking area to address chronic shortfalls (staff cited a 2,430 vehicle-trips-per-day estimate for full site use and 313 peak-hour trips). Applicant Scott Courtney of ARM Group and Carrie Henson, the youth association liaison, said the improvements are intended to address safety issues created by parking across Pouncey Track Road and to bring the site into zoning compliance for active fields. The applicant agreed to remove stadium/sports field lighting from this approval — any future lighting for the fields would require a separate CUP.

Neighbors and users strongly debated lighting, hours and surfacing. Several adjacent residents asked the commission to limit lighting and to prefer gravel to paving to preserve the park’s rural character; some argued additional asphalt increases impervious surface. Park users and volunteers described safety concerns and the need for parking to prevent dangerous roadside parking and pedestrian crossings.

During deliberations, the commission added specific conditions requested by the chair: permanent barriers or other fixed controls to prevent parking in spaces removed near the site entrance; installation of speed humps or other traffic-calming features within the parking approach; signage acknowledging children at play and signage prohibiting unauthorized use; and a revision of weekday end-times so Monday–Wednesday activities end at 9:30 p.m. to give teams time to clear fields. The commission carried the motion to recommend approval with these amendments.