SF agrees to think before building soccer mall

San Francisco will take the time to perform an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) before proceeding with the proposed Beach Chalet soccer fields at the west end of Golden Gate Park.

On May 11, Phil Ginsburg, head of the city's Recreation and Park Department, announced that the city would be performing the analysis rather than relying on a "categorical exemption" supposedly allowing it to omit the study. The Sierra Club San Francisco Group, Golden Gate Audubon Society, SF Ocean Edge, and other community groups had appealed the exemption.

The Recreation and Park Department has technically withdrawn the project, but according to the Planning Department, is just about to resubmit the proposal, with the intention to do a full-scale EIR, but otherwise apparently without significant changes - that is with lights, with artificial turf, and with all of the added parking. The EIR allows one more chance for public input to bring modifications to protect the wildlife and aesthetics of the wild western end of Golden Gate Park.

The Sierra Club is certainly thankful that an EIR will be prepared. A better outcome, however, would be for a new project to be submitted that would be less harmful to the environment from the outset. The four existing soccer fields at the western end of Golden Gate Park, for example, could be refurbished with real grass and a watering system using recycled water, but without 60'- high nightlights, bleachers, and an expanded parking lot. The remaining funds could be used to repair and upgrade other soccer fields and playgrounds all over San Francisco.

The Sierra Club San Francisco Group urges the city to find playing-field and playground alternatives that will have the minimum impact on the city's natural values - good for the body, good for the ecosystem. We do not agree with the premise that we must build soccer fields, no matter what parkland it costs us.

Pinky Kushner, San Francisco Group Executive Committee