Chris Burke, a board member of local Ultimate Frisbee organization DiscNW, schedules games for 15 Frisbee leagues, and knows firsthand how hard it is to find field space in Seattle. "Any time a new field comes on line, it is snapped up right away," says Burke, who has to look as far away as Everett and Federal Way for space. "It's reserved, even while it's being built." So Burke and his Frisbee cohorts--plus soccer, rugby, softball, and baseball players--have been lobbying the city to build more fields at Sand Point Magnuson Park in northeast Seattle. On April 21, the pro-fields contingent will head to city hall for a public hearing about a proposal that would revamp 153 acres of Magnuson Park, creating wetlands and 15 athletic fields--11 lit fields with synthetic turf, and four grassy, unlit fields.

Strapping rugby players and kids in Little League caps won't be the only folks crowding council chambers that Wednesday night. They'll be met by neighbors--mostly people who live on nearby View Ridge--and environmentalists who oppose the plan. That group, organized as Friends of Magnuson Park (you may have seen FOMP's yellow "Save Magnuson Park" yard signs all over town recently), says the Magnuson Park plan will result in light and noise pollution, plus wildlife disturbance. Its members' goal is to "protect the natural habitat and beauty" of the park; to that end, they've had a lighting expert check out the plans, and they claim the lit fields will be twice as bright as Safeco Field and visible across Lake Washington, impacting everyone from nearby residents to migratory birds.

The public hearing is sure to be a showdown: Both groups have been debating the park plan for years, attending meetings with city staffers since 1999. More recently, the two sides dumped e-mail on the city council (council staff reportedly asked for a cease-fire, after getting around 1,300 messages), and flooded the city with "expert" analysis. Field proponents have spreadsheets on the "Projected Unmet Needs" of athletic space while FOMP has a computer rendition of the fully-lit complex displayed on its website. While the pro-fields folks seem to have the upper hand--the plan has passed the parks department's vetting process, and the mayor supports it--the neighbors and enviros can't be underestimated: FOMP members are backed by a dozen North Seattle groups ranging from the 46th District Democrats to the View Ridge Community Council, they've already appealed earlier environmental impact statements on the plan, and they've considered a lawsuit. Moreover, city staffers say the council seems sympathetic toward the people opposed to the project.

amy@thestranger.com