NDNU to Announce Decision Regarding Amended CUP for Koret Field

President Judith Greig on Thursday morning will announce whether the school will adopt the conditional use permit for Koret Field in January.

The university has been weighing the pros and cons of the amended CUP, which the City Council had scaled back from the one the Planning Commission approved in September.

The changes the council made catered to both the university and the residents who live nearby and say the noise on the sports field is unbearable.

Among those modifications to the Planning Commission's CUP were shortened hours and a decrease in the number of Sundays the field can be used.

An amended conditional use permit for NDNU's Koret Field has been up in the air for several years, with the university hoping to allow youth sports groups to use the field, as well as other changes.

But residents who live nearby said the noise from the field was already unbearable and didn't want it to get worse.

After the Jan. 11 City Council meeting in which the amended CUP was approved, NDNU spokesman Richard Rossi said the university would take its time reviewing the effects of the changes to the amended permit before deciding whether to stick with its current permit from 2005.

The current permit doesn't allow youth sports groups to use the field, among other differences.

Resident Gordon Seely, who lives near Koret Field and was among the group who filed the appeal against the Planning Commission's version of the permit, said at the time that he was pleased with most of the changes the council made.

NDNU's announcement will be made at 11 a.m. at Ralston Hall. Check back on Belmont Patch for a story following the announcement.