>> good afternoon or good evening. i am a high school athletic director. i spent five years running san francisco delete here in the city. i am very much -- san francisco little league here in this city. i am very much in favor of this project. as a high school athletic director, we struggled with the condition of the grass fields in the city. we have parents that that does not to send our teams to play at feels that have become degraded and dangerous. we send our kids there and a kid

gets injured, we felt horrible. the synthetic turf fields are the safest fields in the city. from an athletic director perspective, this is a fantastic project. as a former president of the youth sports organization, speaking on behalf of the people the care about their kids, i want to say how when pour into this project is. these people give us so much of their free time to the kids of the city and to be supported by the city is a fantastic thing. this eir process -- we understand the process needs to happen. please accept the eir. do not accept reasons that we do not believe are justified for additional delays.

led the project moves forward and support the volunteers of this city. >> good evening, commissioners. i want to thank you for your eternal patients. i was here dating back to 1992, 20 years. we all -- we did almost all of our soccer field and all of them deteriorated immediately. i wish we could maintain regular field, but we cannot. i know you have reviewed the thousand pages of the responses. i reviewed all of them and made less. one thing became very clear. those people that use beach chalet support the project. those people that don't use beach chalet don't.

what i seek is an age-old contradiction between parks and recreation. i do not know how many of you remember when there was a parks department and there was the recreation department. now we have a planning and parks and recreation department. it would seem this would be -- in 1928, john mclaren and the park department said this shall be an active recreational space. why don't we make it the best space weekend? if any of us will go down to the area, you do not even know there is a soccer complex. you have to be 50 feet from it. if i would happen to be down there on a foggy evening, my heart would be happy. that my fellow citizens were out there running up and down. active recreation is a good

thing. thank you very much. >> thank you for the opportunity to speak. i am representing lacrosse. i am in support of the plan for beach chalet. when i first moved to san francisco, the program was actually canceled. we practice once a week for one hour. due to field conditions, we have had to cancel over half of the practices, deal with minor injuries, compete with adult themes for field space. this project would increase playing time, allow been the kids to further develop individual teams -- a lot and

the kids to fellow -- for develop individual teams and life skills. i would like to request approval and may for beach chalet to move forward. thank you. president fong: ok. [reading names] if i have called your name, come on up.

>> i would like to start by submitting -- there are eight copies. i did not realize there were 12 of the. i am a resident of san francisco. i worked in the field of field development to or promotion of field development and as a coach for over 20 years. i would like to start off by stating that i am not the biggest proponent of filled turf, but considering the conditions of san francisco and of this west and area, it is the only choice. if we look at the polo grounds, the city invested zero million dollars into refurbishing them. -- $8 million into refurbishing them. -- a million dollars into

refurbishing them. the things i just handed you, it completely eliminates the white issue. there is a new company that has created lights that diminished the spill of light by 50%. it decreases the amount of cost and energy consumption by over half. it is a viable agreement solution to eliminate a lot of the problems that the opposition are talking about. in addition to that, it is not about whether we want to change this area. it is a belt that we need to. because of what happens in the bushes that night. the drug use, the sexual things that we know are going on out there. those sorts of things were happening at crocker.

if you put the lights in here, it it will make it a destination spot. we will no longer have the crime or the problems we have in that area. we are short of the field and this is a perfect opportunity to make this an icon of the city. even better than what we have going on at crocker. this puts it or everybody can have access. thank you. president fong: due to be our commthe hour, there are a groupf kids. you guys want to quickly speak? a small group, hopefully. maybe have one or two speakers representing you.

>> i am the father of this girl and the volunteer parent coach of the san francisco seals. we are a soccer team. most of the girls on this team have been playing together since pre-k. we have played in all kinds of fields in san francisco. grassy areas that are not fields, but according to the leak, that they considered them places for us to play. a lot of people have spoken that those are not good places for kids to run around. they are in pretty bad shape. we have seen a lot of injuries. we have seen it girls trip in holes.

whenever we have games over at turf fields, they are excited to play. they are very happy about that. thank you. >> i am a parent of the seals. i am also the granddaughter of the parks and recreation commissioner for 25 years. he still gets very excited to hear about her playing soccer and coming over and talking about things. i know he would absolutely support the turf fields so that his granddaughter -- so that his great granddaughter could place safely and have a great time. thank you agreement. -- thank you very much. >> i am a parent, a resident of

15th avenue in san francisco. and also a huge part supporter -- parks supporter. i have been a big supporter of renovation, i have been a campaigner for and fundraiser for. what i see that works in those projects are renovations that serve the constituency. in those cases, not every part can be everything to everyone, obviously. but those projects are succeeding because they know what the constituency wants. they're making projects, making parks at work. we have a constituency that has been certified by the city for twice as long as i have been alive. if we have a chance to make that

better, we should do it. please support this program, thank you. president fong: thank you. >> the children are a little shy. one of the things that both of my daughters want to speak about is how much they dread when they have to play at places like -- and they are seeing this as a great opportunity for kids in the city. i think we are now at the point where the comments are almost abusing the system on the process. we have had a hearing that started at 3:00. i would really encourage you to move forward with the process. i think the comments have been

addressed. this is what people dislike the most about government, that it goes on and on and on and there is no resolution. i would ask you to move this process forward and make san francisco proud. president fong: next team, please. we want one speaker or two speakers per team, thank you very much. >> [inaudible] president fong: thank you very much. >> thank you, commissioners. i am a father of three children. my oldest is 10. they thoroughly enjoyed sports. i also coached soccer, baseball, basketball. i am a strong proponent of fitness. i think it improves the all- around ability of the kids.

i just want to give you a personal experience. i went back and look to my calendar. i had 21 cancellations of practices or games. only two of those were legitimate cancellations that would have happened on turf. it was not a very rainy season this year. maybe you already know this, but the demand for sports in the city is very high. my younger daughter, who is 8, 1 to play baseball so bad she made me get up at midnight to register her. the lacrosse registration for my eight-year-old daughter ended within one hour of registration been opened.

demand for field is there. it would be a great addition to the city of san francisco. president fong: quickly. >> i think to practice is important and it is good that we should get out there. because of these fields, we cannot play. if we had turf, it would be a better opportunity to get out there and play. since we are city kids, we do not get that opportunity very often. president fong: thank you. do we have any other person whose names have been called? [reading names]

>> [inaudible] i do want to say that i know families are moving out of san francisco because they cannot play soccer. they cannot afford the houses. i am confused about rain, but we need so much water, but it is

always raining. all these families, all of these kids, where are the wind the budget comes up -- when the budget comes up, and year after year after year, it is slashed. they are here for one thing only and that is to play soccer in golden gate park where we should have a natural field for everyone, not just 1%. i would urge you, but where are they when your budget comes up? where are they went all the directors are laid off? >> thank you. anyone else? [reading names]

>> commissioners, i was born and raised in san francisco. i am a father of three. let me identify 3 facts that cannot tonight. -- that came out tonight. they have failed to maintain any kind of field. they failed to listen to the demands from a resident for more fields. that was clear, i did not make that up. families leaving san francisco, let's look at cost of living, not lack of fields. you guys have gone to the point

where you know what you were going to do. so what can i say? what is the real issue to this proposal? 7 acres of artificial turf. is it soccer? some people would have you think that it -- without artificial turf, there is no soccer. is it revenue-yes. i count at least 40 separate locations in san francisco soccer practice and soccer games. the issue is not soccer. soccer is going to continue regardless of whether it is young children are not going to play at night. the driving issue is revenue. under the cover of budget

deficits, you are asked to waive the master plan document. so that the character of the golden gate park can be sacrificed. it is a mistake to endorse these artificial turf. >> thank you. >> before you, our names, we have created a fire hazard again. all of these standing on the side of the ram, you are blocking the door. i need to find a seat. -- i need you to find a seat.

thank you said some much. -- so much. >> heritage agrees with the determination of the eir of the proposed project would result in impacts on historic resources. the significance of the athletic field is directly linked to its naturalistic qualities. as proposed, the project would impair many of the character defining features of the beach chalet athletic fields. public agencies should not approve projects proposed if there are feasible alternatives for mitigation measures available that would lessen the anbar milk impact of such a project. -- environmental impacts of such a project.

as well as renovation of the offsite alternative. the department's response to comments in the eir suggest that this alternative would need -- would meet objectives. for those reasons, we believe this alternative warrants an in- depth analysis before it is approved. thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. i am a 37-year resident of san francisco. i urge you to not accept the eir that has been submitted to you tonight. we need more playing fields, that is clear to me. it is wonderful to see all of these young people participating in civic process. something we also need

desperately in san francisco is naturalistic areas in our parks. in golden gate park, it has taken over a vast area of the park. more and more of the park is not available for simply enjoying the walking through and appreciate the naturalistic qualities that it has. this is one of the rare places we have left in san francisco and preserving it is critical. you can maintain golf courses, a grass field for soccer. do we need lights? no. i urge you to reject this report. thank you. >> i consult with san francisco

unified. i live in the richmond district. i have a soft spot for those who cannot fend for themselves. that is why i became a speech therapist. i have a passion for education and a passion for nature. i agree that kids need a place to play, but i am horrified as to what this teaches children in terms of environmental conservation. there are alternatives that have been presented. i urge you to consider them. i listened to the children and diet loved it. they work -- and i loved it. they were coached well. i wonder how many know of them about the consequences of cutting down the trees. the birds that will lose their homes. there are consequences and they are irreversible. when there are such alternatives -- i need a speech

therapist at this point. i am tired. there are alternatives. there are other ways of dealing with this. the field in nethe sunset. please consider it. thank you. >> good evening. i am representing the sierra club. we find the eir to be inadequate. it does not address concerns. the issues of lighting embraced by the sierra club and the federal government. the lack of mitigation of the environmental impacts. the fact of the preferred alternative violates the 1998

proposition at j regarding the addition of parking in golden gate park. the lack of provision of natural grass, no light alternative. an alternative necessary to evaluate the preferred alternative is. san francisco has been a leader in making choices based on the least environmentally harmful alternatives. this proposal flies in the face of this. the western end of golden gate park, including ocean beach, is the last remnant of dark skies in the city. there will be negative impact on wildlife. this is to be properly considered. there are a number of ways the existing fields could be improved using modern methods. such as those used on professional natural turf fields. this is not in the eir.

this presents a false choice, as other people have mentioned. this is something we can all support come at a really nice grass field to play on that is the unique character of the western end of golden gate park. >> thank you. >> thank you, commissioners. i am a resident of district 10. my brother is a landscape architect. he has been dealing with these issues with artificial turf field adjacent to a park project he is working on. he found that not only -- they need to be cleaned out. these products don't just stay

where they are at. they migrate to the aqua firm -- aquafer into a the hydrology system. there is the epa study that has been done on this in 2010. it is quite telling. i have a link to it here in this paper. some of the heavy metals and chemicals detected on these field included chromium, copper, mercury, the list goes on for a while. there is another primary concern as the production of greenhouse gases from the artificial turf. right now, we have is equestrian system -- sequestrian system

with the grass. that will be replaced wood products that are producing greenhouse gases. >> thank you. let me call some more names. [readinfg names] >> good evening, commissioners. i am a san francisco resident. i am a member of golden gate audubon. i urge you to reject the eir to replace the natural grass soccer field at beach chalet and replace them with artificial