Dreher gets tentative City Council support after long zoning battle over sports field

The battle's not over in Dreher High School's contentious quest for a new sports field and tennis courts, but after a vote by City Council on Tuesday night, it's at last within 30 days of an answer to a key rezoning request.

The majority of Council members agreed to tentatively approve rezoning Dreher's Millwood Avenue property to a residential classification, which could open the door to the new athletics facilities. But Council members stipulated that serious discussions must be held between the school and school district, nearby neighbors and city leaders before a final vote is taken on April 17.

Dreher and its neighbors have been discussing the school's proposal for five new competition tennis courts and a multi-use turf field for a year and a half now, with no success at the unity or compromise City Council members have hoped to see.

Dreher's plan for new on-campus athletisc facilities has riled neighbors, who fear it will disrupt their quality of life by increasing noise, light and traffic near their homes. And, they have said, the school is walking back on an earlier agreement not to expand facilities on its 20-acre campus.

Those who support adding the field and courts to Dreher's campus say it will offer Dreher students more equal opportunities to participate in sports. Currently, many student-athletes travel off-campus to practice and compete in their sports. Some say the travel factor can inhibit some students from playing sports.

The multi-use field and tennis courts proposed at Dreher are part of a district-wide plan to upgrade athletics facilities at every high school. Other schools, including nearby rival A.C. Flora, already have identical multi-use turf fields on campus.

Dreher and Richland 1 officials say the field, flanked by bleacher seating for several hundred spectators, will be used for soccer games, JV football games and some football practices. Officials have said those events would draw small crowds.

"I don't believe that we're in a position where anyone is in the wrong," said Mayor Steve Benjamin, who added that even council members are not in total agreement on the issue.

Though several dozen people had signed up to speak at a public hearing at City Hall, Benjamin's motion to give initial approval to the rezoning staved off a repeat of last May's three-hour hearing on the issue. At that time, Council deflected a vote, leading to the past 10 months of ongoing talks and inaction between the school and neighbors.

In the meantime, city zoning staff has stood by a recommendation to approve Dreher's rezoning to a residential classification, while the Planning Commission recommended for the third time that the rezoning be denied.

While the rezoning would open the door for the new facilities, it would not be an automatic go-ahead for the field and tennis courts.

The school district still would have to appeal for special permission to construct the athletics facilities; even with a new zoning classification, it could be denied.

In Tuesday's vote, Councilman Daniel Rickenmann was the sole dissenter, disapproving the rezoning request. (Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine abstained from the vote, as her husband is a member of the Richland 1 school board.)

Rickenmann said the past few days have seen the most productive conversations yet in the process, and he hopes to see more progress toward a mutually agreeable solution in the coming weeks.

"I've been asking for an agreement," Rickenmann said. "What we've seen on all sides is emotions, and unfortunately, sometimes our emotions get ahead of us."

This story was originally published March 20, 2018 at 8:53 PM with the headline "Dreher gets tentative City Council support after long zoning battle over sports field."