By LEAH WEATHERSBY

When the City's Parks Commission held a meeting Jan. 24 to hear public comments regarding plans to install field lighting and increase hours of operation at athletic fields throughout Seattle, Haller Lake resident Charles Prestrud was one of more than a dozen community activists who showed up wearing green visors.

The visors, one of the activists explained, are what neighbors of the athletic fields are going to need to block out the glare at night that would be created by the light poles added to the fields if the City carries out its Joint Athletic Facilities Development Plan.

The goal of the plan is to identify priority athletic facility projects - such as renovated fields - that will expand capacity, allowing more teams to schedule games and practices. The improvements include adding synthetic turf, which allows use even during bad weather, and lights, which allows play later at night.

Currently, several locations in North Seattle are slated for sports lighting including Nathan Hale High School, the old Jane Addams School, Ingraham High School and Sand Point Magnuson Park.

Prestrud, who lives near Ingraham, complained that "There is no balance to the draft plan. It sticks the neighborhood with the noise, traffic and glare."

Renee Barton, a Meadowbrook resident who lives near Nathan Hale and Jane Addams, also voiced opposition to the plan.

Barton, who belongs to a citizens group called Seattle Residents for Fair Field Lighting, criticized the plan because the proposed improvements would over-tax the surrounding neighborhoods with traffic and noise. "This plan should not be passed until neighbors' concerns are written into the plan," she said.

But the crowd of approximately 100 people that turned out for the meeting, included many who support the plans to improve the city's athletic fields, including several recreational sports enthusiasts and parents of kids who use those fields.

"The focus of this document needs to be increasing (field) capacity, and I believe it is," said Terry Holme, a member Seattle Sports Advisory Council and a commissioner for the Seattle Youth Soccer Association. "These fields are city-wide resources."

A follow-up discussion and recommendation from the Board of Park Commissioners is expected to be scheduled for February. For more information, contact Alix Ogden at the Parks Department at 684-7046.