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player ready...Western Springs officials are contemplating whether to limit the boys of summer impacting the joys of summer for other residents.
Members of the village’s Planning and Zoning Committee are looking at whether steps need to be taken to limit the use of outdoor batting cages because of their impact on other residents.
Martin Scott, director of community development, said that a complaint from an Old Town resident about constant noise from a neighbor’s outdoor cage set-up has committee members thinking about addressing the topic.
Scott said the resident, who did not want to go public at this time, said the constant sound of balls coming off metal bats was a nuisance during the summer months, impacting their dinner and other activities.
“The person complained of the summer noise from the constant hitting,” Scott said. “We wondered if we should consider regulations and if we should look into it.”
The committee members will likely discuss the issue at their February meeting and determine if the issue warrants further examination.
Scott said the village has a whole section in its municipal codes regarding outdoor recreation facilities, but that temporary batting cages don’t fit any of the existing regulations.
“This is new territory for us,” Scott said.
The community development director said the concerns expressed are similar to residents who live next to a vacant lot, expecting a home to be built on the site but then someone buys the lot and uses it to build a full-length basketball court or swimming pool.
“There can be lighting and noise concerns, but we have regulations on that,” Scott said. “Those, however, do not apply to batting cages.”
Scott said it is a father and his children — not a coach having youths over to his home for practice — that is causing the noise disturbing at least one nearby resident.
“The resident said the noise was all day and into the evening, that they would be enjoying dinner and would hear the “tink, tink (of metal bats),” Scott said.
Scott said if members of the Planning and Zoning Committee think the issue warrants further study, they might direct him to do research on the topic, including if other towns restrict outdoor batting cage use.