Following the withdrawal of the Epstein School’s plans for expansion , the Sandy Springs city council voted 4-2 Tuesday to allow Holy Spirit Preparatory School to build an athletics complex, including a football field, on a site near an established neighborhood.

Some residents and opponents to the council’s vote felt the three year old city of Sandy Springs had broken a promise to protect the integrity of the neighborhoods .

“The intention was to provide better representation to the citizens of this area,” said Mark Wolfe, who opposed the project.

Holy Spirit is a Catholic school for children in pre-kindergarten through high school. It already has two academic campuses. The athletics complex will include an administrative building, a combined football and soccer field, seating for 400 spectators and tennis courts.

The site is an eight-acre parcel of undeveloped land off Long Island Drive, just south of I-285.

More than 200 residents and school boosters attended the council meeting Tuesday, spilling over into an adjoining room.

The city planning staff had recommended denial of the project, which needed a special use permit and four variances from city zoning laws. Critics complained it violated the city’s plans for land use.

Advocates argued the conditions imposed — such as limits on the number of games and hours of operation — would mitigate problems with traffic, noise and lighting. The council voted to limit the number of night home games to 12 a year and they would be required to end at 11 p.m.

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