need to hear more about. to my personal pet peeve, the beach, the ocean, the frog, with these huge lights extended into it, this is called light pollution. every town i can think of and even most of the cities in this country have standards about black skies. what is considered a standard so you do not pollute it more than we already have? the san francisco not have these? if so, what do they say? i know a tiny little town that six light fixtures very carefully so they can still sees stars at night. i think that this is a cultural heritage that needs to be respected. this is not just about children.

this is about everybody and everything. thank you. >> i am representing the planning association. thank you for pointing out what is at issue tonight. there is a reason the next commission that will be looking at this is the recreation and parks department. park does not yet have a position on supporting or opposing this project. part of the reason is we have been waiting for the eir to come out. some of us may have read all of the pages.

we requested 60 days additional public review and comments. if that is too much, we would settle for 30. we have also made another request besides extending the public review and comment period. when you consider it, this particular eeir, we hope you wil consider it with conjunction with the final one for a water improvement plant designed to go between the soccer field and murphy's windmill. the reason is twofold.

we think the scope of this particular eir is far too narrow. it does not even consider this other proposal for that portion of the park, not only in the park but in the immediate neighborhood, so we would like to reiterate that request that you schedule the consideration of both together, and we will be there to support nor oppose both projects. one thing we have with regard to the present draft eir that has concerned us is there is an implication for the soccer fields that the only thing that would take place on them when the lights are up would be sports activities.

there is evidence that when you have an open field and permanent light, it comes back to life. we hope that is not the case. now thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. i am a third-generation san franciscan. i believe i am the only one in this room who has worked for the parks department for 37 years. i worked on the master plan. i worked on the assessment report. now we are 76% of the people that we are serving wanted to walking, hiking, biking trails in a natural setting.

could i also urge taxpayers to vote for it, because amongst other things was renovation of athletics. there is nowhere in that document stating the field would be paved over. i once talked to a soccer coach in my young days. besides playing soccer, we would go on field trips. now we walked down to the beach shalala -- chalet. the kids marvel at the forest and wondered what country they were in. i was shocked the kids had never seen that many trees, and being from the hunters point project, maybe they have never seen a tree. the san francisco wrecked apartment -- rec department has

over 60 soccer pitches but only one golden gate park. the park is an environmental -- the project is an environmental disaster. do not like your legacy beat your paved paradise and put up -- legacy be to pave paradise and put up a parking lot. >> i have been a homeowner in san francisco for 33 years, and i am a green party activist and was also a candidate for mayor in the last election, and i am going to speak only to the draft environmental impact report. we have heard from so many

people in so many instances that now covered or that they were misrepresented or not thought out or followed through. there was a total division between the sides. the people who watch soccer were thrilled by the report, and those who wanted to preserve the nature of golden gate park were disturbed by the report. i feel this report is not objective. it does not serve the function of a deir. the people who wrote this report decided there was an insignificant as that impact of

having 150,000 watts of light at night and 76 huge light bulbs. i do not think anybody is saying, let's stroll and days under the glare of the beautiful wife of the stadium, or let's go watch the sunset behind the light poles. it is idiotic to say there is an insignificant aesthetic impact. the only way someone could say that is if they came to the job of writing this report and studying the situation with orders to come up with a report that absolutely validated the installation of the soccer field. this is not a d i eir, it is a

draft snow job. i think it is incumbent upon the planning commission to reject this and the men something that is not a snow job, that is not something that is just going to push the project of the soccer field through but will objectively examine it from an objective point of view. >> thank you. >> good evening. i have the honor of presenting a letter from several lerner, who was working as a park planner and capital project manager from 1978 until 2001. her comments are most important, because she wrote the golden gate park master plan in 1998,

and that is a clear document of the direction they should be taking that they are not following and which were ignored, so i will leave that here with you. i thing many of you may have heard about the lead paint contamination. the reason i bring it up as the coast near rec and park -- is because rec and park have been ignoring concerns about lead paint. they scraped and basically blew lead paint particulate all over the lake. the reason i am bringing it up is because the draft eir mentions that on all code regulations will be followed. the same could be said about the boat house. the only thing i have not heard is that rec and park just redid the polo fields.

do we have a problem with gophers every day with children and not with horses? it is always interesting. you frequently hear our manager talk about how proud he is of golf courses, and they get a word for how pristine they are and how everyone france about the maintenance, and -- everyone rants about the maintenance, and everyone complains about the soccer fields. our kids need soccer fields, and i know the draft eir needs to be held back. >> joseph butler.

[list of names] after the next speaker, we are going to take a short recess for the court reporter. >> my name is joseph butler. am qualified to make evaluations of historic resources. third we have heard of numerous deficiencies. the exclusion of fact could do not support the objectives. that indicates this is not meeting what is required.

the cultural landscape links the resources. having succeeded, who building of the beach chalet to provide for recreational use of the beach and its adjacent grass fields. preserving the original intent of creating a national sexting -- a natural setting has nothing to do with replacing the natural grass field with a toxic field of rubber, heavy metals, and petroleum byproducts. the architectural historic resources are not only consistent with surrounding cultural landscape, they are responsible for it.

>> we will be taking a short recess. >> commissioners, we are >> the n session. we are still in public comment. >> are there any folks still in the overflow row. i want to encourage you to join us in this room. i think we have more cards at this point. we have over 100 cards, so i just wanted to let people know that when no one was overlooked. we did receive over 100 cards to

tonight for speaking. i am going to ask that anyone who is interested in speaking at this point to come up to the microphone. i do not know if you want to line up at this side of the room. it is probably better than lining up at the door. >> did you call my name? >> yes. >> my name is dan richmond. i do not have much to say, because it has been said so eloquently who this evening except for two things. one of the major deficiencies an it seems to me one of the most vital elements of an urban environment are the people in this city.

i wonder if it would be possible to pull all the folks in the western part of the city', and i do not mean just soccer tariff on one side and environmentalists on -- just saw her mother's on one side and environmentalists on another. goosecondly, but children need activities, and there is a problem with obesity and all of these other factors that are absolutely important. somebody said a funny thing about kids getting out here with shovels as well. why couldn't maintenance of

natural fields be implemented into the curriculum of schools? this would give children reaching people complain about how they are so disconnected from nature and the natural world, even the physical world, because they go malmo and get locked into their screens. -- they go home and get locked in. here is a great opportunity for children to become involved and actually maintaining the fields they play on. just think how about would be. >> thank you for hearing all of our voices tonight. i am the executive director of a nonprofit.

we focus on the community in bayview and hunters point. we work with about four android kids each year. i am here to ask you to move forward on the renovation and except when it er -- accept the eir. i am not going to leave this with you, because i came up with so many thoughts, and i do value the process of democracy, but the natural fields and grass have been shown to be full of toxins, which are incredibly harmful to humans and wildlife.

this is explained in higher rates of cancer as well. it seems logical the if we care about public safety, the project appears to be a no-brainer. when i moved to san francisco 12 years ago, many children as if we were still in san francisco when we played lacrosse. they're pretty much always close to make sure $1 million went into rich. -- went into it. the ugliest always seems to be available. playing lacrosse helps kids who are often forgotten feel a part

of something. playing along the ocean will help them feel a part of something spectacular. the eir addresses all of these issues in a safe manner. i cannot express the excitement of our team to be on the field and to know our games would not be rained out us i would like to remind the commission that the field is not just for the citizens gos>> when i first heard about

the proposal to tear up the metal and replace it with a soccer field, i did not know what to think. what would maclaren do? i did some research and found out. there is a great book here, san francisco's golden gate park. it turns out that when john mclaren was in a situation where powerful interests wanted to go to the western half of the park and put in modern facilities for the good of the community, he said no. he fought them, and he won. that is why the 1915 pan pacific international exposition was built out of the marina and not at golden gate

park. there are other examples, too, from the smoke. there are other examp-- from th. he wants to block this, but he doesn't have an environmental impact report. he tried to figure out how to block this, and by then, the city engineer and people were saying, trains are good for the park, people need them and there aren't that many trees and plants along the route any way. he storms and the city hall and says, her of this project proceeds, plants and shrubs will have to be built up along the route because he is a scottish. the advisers had to go out and see who is right. they get out and they see a

field of the floral beauty. ok, you win. the rail line is cancelled. the supervisors leave, he turns to his 300 workers had a says, you can go home, lads. they had worked on like to plant those roses and chrysanthemums and just to block the rail lines. what would a mclaren do today about a proposal for natural grass replaced with astroturf? concrete and electric lights? he would block it. that is what he would do. gotten good evening, commissioners. haven't been here since you got

promoted. i am a native san franciscan, naturally i am against this project. i am john wooden, i live in north beach. it is a professional soccer stadium masquerading as a gift to the children. all the projects i am against are either masquerading as being something for children or a way to create jobs. when the city let them go to an mx suit -- a new mexico firm, a pretty much gave up. but i owe it to my mother who was a native san franciscan to be here to try to persuade you, even though you're not in a position to turn the project down, i think you could send a message if he sent it back for corrections or perhaps a few extended the public comment period.

there is a reason san francisco was voted to be the second best city in the united states, it was in the paper yesterday. hot windy city let them go, what has to wonder -- and one has to wonder. i know st. francis academy will never come back the way things are going. one of the defects is that when of the trees, many of the trees are called a brush or bush's, that way they won't have to be examined one by one. it is important that the when the brakes are built into golden gate park because you have a big ocean out there that is blowing a lot of wind can. there are even more trees connected to the water project

also. i think it is a misstatement about most of the trees being brush. again, you could send a message even if you can't stop the project, and i hope you will. >> i am the president of the california soccer association, over 3000 adult members playing soccer in san francisco. our membership unanimously supports the adoption is this kind of ironic that the very people who demanded an eir are now opposed and against everything that is in the report. the entire and electrician to fix your plumbing. i believe the city and county

went to the best people they could to render this report. i believe the report should be accepted as written. it is just going to be another year or two because they are going to find more and more things to complain about and to ask for extensions, and every time they get a report did of like, will ask for another one. i am one of those kids in the picture in the 50's. the beach was not much better than that it is now. i would urge all of you to take a trip out to the field and find out why they are closed. it is closed because it is dangerous. kids get their legs broken, adults who play at a greater pace with a lot more weight will enter themselves worse because of the holes and the ruts.

san francisco city and county does not have the money to maintain the field in pristine shape so that nobody can get hurt. the rhetoric about whether it is good about falls by the wayside because we just don't have the money to keep them maintained in the way they should be. ha ha turf fields do not suffer the problem. i travel all over the united states, everywhere in this country, cities, counties, school districts, colleges, they are turning their fields over to synthetic surface. because it has been proven to them that it works. it saves money in the problems down the line. the estimate of eight to 10 years for a replacement for a field is not true. haven't gotten to the limit yet of how long these fields will last. portland, oregon has one of the most synthetic surface fields

put in. the university of their plays their, and that is over 15 years old. i can guarantee you is not in as bad a shape and it is not ready to be replaced. >> i am a resident of the marina and a part of an endangered species. in-native san franciscan. my wife is native end of my kids are natives. we have decided to stay here. we all about the exodus of families and there are two things that are sort of the main drivers behind this. what is the schools that you don't have much control over. the other is the lack of recreational facilities. we pay higher taxes to be here and we would like something for our kids. if you don't have something for e