Bill to Quiet Ballfields Creates an Uproar

Two of the school's neighbors who contacted The Washington Post last night said they don't have anything against youth sports. They want only to be notified before games are played, they said. They declined to give their names because of fear of retribution.

Coaches and county athletics officials said they are aware that the thirst for more athletic space is causing tensions with homeowners. But they said the bill's language goes way too far.

Sundays are busy sports days, and most weekday games are played at night in the spring and fall.

"To make a blanket law in the state of Virginia is ridiculous," said Rob Hahne of Centreville, chairman of the Fairfax County Baseball Council, which represents 32 child and adult leagues. "We're trying to fight childhood obesity. We're trying to fight gang violence. We would be taking kids away from productive activities."

The bill was assigned to the House Courts of Justice Committee, whose chairman, also a Fairfax delegate, said he plans to kill it first thing Monday.

"I personally think kids playing is a great sound," Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax) said. He said he, like many lawmakers, gets requests from constituents to draft bills he isn't crazy about. But he will sometimes introduce them anyway, "to give them a voice in their government." Yet he said Hull's bill crossed a line. "I never would have done it."

Fairfax officials objected yesterday that Hull had not warned them that the bill was coming.

"The General Assembly, once again, without talking to anybody in the county, has put forth something to restrict our constituents from using their own parkland," Supervisor Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason) said, echoing the furious comments of most of her colleagues.