back in 2004, the recreation and park department initiated a third-party recreation assessment, whichat the recreation and park department was short athletic fields citywide, and the problem has only exacerbated over time as sports become more popular. on an average day, over 4000 kids use our field after school, especially during spring and fall, and during that time, usually between 3:00 and 6:30 p.m. is the prime time of usage. what we find is that growth is restricted by the lack of fields in our system, so that is why this program came into existence and why we are here today. following that recreation assessment, the city feels foundation and recreation and park department joined forces to establish a plate field initiative. we can gather in 2006 and started the program. immediately following that, we initiated a few pilot projects, which i will talk to a bit later, but the goal of the program at the time was to make sure every san francisco child had a safe place to play athletics and sports. the way we were going to achieve that as part of this program was

back in 1950, the commission delegated all the recreational responsibility to the recreation and park department for those recreational activities. we have been working recently to try to improve the relationship and come up with real benefits to the lake merced tract. you're this in november where we talked about the mou. since that time, we have received a number of comments. we have made some changes to the mou. we have met extensively with rec and park and talk about the amounts of funding for the needs of the land out there, which is an important issue to them and to us. we have met with folks from the gun club to deal with a looming issue at lake merced. i will go over those things today. first, the resolution updates the 1950 resolution. does not totally replace it. it defines relative puc and rec and port facilities -- responsibilities. -- rec and park bank responsibilities. we have recognized the ultimate authority with the lake merced tract rests with this mission. it is your responsibility. what the mou does is increase is our involvement on a day-to-day basis in the lake m

it's nice to be able to follow that outpouring of love and recreation for the recreation and parks department. it has been a pleasure and a productive process working with your staff to develop this mou. i think the agreement does represent a significant step forward in the overall management of lake merced. the agreement clearly delineate responsibilities for each agency and i think this outlining of responsibilities will allow each of us to focus on our respective core competencies which is watershed management and water quality management and for the recreation and park department, its recreation programming and maintenance of the lake and natural areas around the lake. i'm going to introduce james wheeler, one of our recreation managers. he's responsible for the recreation division that offers water-based activities and he's going to give an outline of what it is we are planning to do out at the lake that's going to enhance the recreational opportunities out there. >> a good afternoon. i'm the leisure services and aquatics waterfront manager for the city. i want to introduce my staff. the

uses recreation and open space. a lot has been said about having the open space and what it is providing. what is not there and this plan is the recreation. the national recreation parks association says that for a city of our size, we should have 400 tennis courts. in 2007, we had 156. today, we have 128. the number of public tennis courts is dropping very quickly. you have seen the of the poor conditions of this tennis court. they are going to rely on private funds to help them sustain themselves. our public tennis courts at golden gate park and some had been renovated by the olympic club. there is a another private entity that has renovated other tennis courts. we're taking a look at the privatization of our public and preservation of our private for the use of the public. that is an extremely important part when you start to consider the fact that you are going to allow huge height as well as bulk to replace recreation when you have an option. with regard to standards, swimming pools. a city in this size should

this negatively impact what i look for in terms of recreation. i hope you vote no to the washington project. president chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> i would like to talk through the eight washington street proposal, and how it would negatively impact the recreational space available to our committee. there is a lap pool force from classes, and a lot of open space. it is important to note that there are programs available to the public, not just facility members. the most notable program is kids camp. it employs 20 people each summer, providing tennis and arts and crafts. children from low income families can enjoy these families. it is important to note that a key part of the space is things like a lawn used for community activities such as barbecues, family gatherings, and fund- raising events. there are a few problems i see with the proposal. first, when it comes to these areas, the proposal is vague. the pool would not be open to the community, and there would be no lawns or deck space for outdoor recreation. the changes to the existing ou

what are the recreational uses of the lake? we saw the one to have materials for, you might people to get staff for viet money for a but nothing round reel programming. we have not heard anything specific around that and how to implement not be accepted the lake merced -- lake merced watershed plan. so really for rec & park to come back and say as relates to the boat house what your role would be in the management of those facilities to make the case that you guys could do it since we haven't seen a lot of action in these past years. >> not only does rec & park manager recreational activities, we do the maintenance, custodial and maintenance, landscape maintenance, natural areas, a fair amount of structural maintenance around the lake and it would be helpful to me to understand where this commission is on that issue and whether those are activities you would like us to continue to do or is that something you would like your own staff to take on? >> that some things that could bring back as a recommendation to us on what that wi

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 devel

all on the side of a community recreation facility. -- all on the side of the community recreation facility. we do not want to make this mistake. one of the benefits of this project is by the sponsors -- when they build it, they will provide funding for 27, 28 units of affordable housing costs side. we already have that housing and we have it right now at the golden gateway apartments. they are part of the development team. there are 1254 apartments at the golden gateway. we about the opportunity to survey 341 of those. of those, 46 are rented out to businesses as hotel units. if we could put those back into the rental housing stock, we would have more than the 27 units. we have a second chance. let's not blow it. thank you. president chiu: i am going to call the rest of the names that i have. [reading names] please lineup if you have not had a chance to speak. next speaker. >> it is hard to believe there could be anything more to say. i do want to say that i do belong to the club, but i'd live in supervisor farrell district. this is a citywide issue. that is why i want to speak. the real e

however, there's a difference between ornamental and recreational uses and among recreational uses, some are more demanding. this is the third time around for the polo fields. i remember when they tried to redo them the first time and threw seed on sand and it didn't take and then they put on turf, they put that down, and did it the right way and it lasted for quite a few years but it's difficult to keep tup and the same is true, i've heard, which is starting to show wear and marina green needs a lot of work, a lot of weeds in there. we have plenty to keep us busy but the challenges of maintaining turf are the hardest as close to the ocean as you get so the most difficult place for natural turf would be the beach chalet fields. we did get an awful lot of emails on the subject, many from people outside of san francisco. but -- and it was interesting. some of these i would ask by email, you know, how did you find out about the project and i also asked them, do you have artificial turf fields or lights in your jurisdiction, wherever they happen to be writing from, and very few of them repli

i would hate to have to get into recreation management at the lake. we have a huge water program, a huge sewer program, we can do anything people tell us to do. we can move mountains, burrow under them, do anything that needs to be done. but we don't have expertise figuring out whether kayaks for sailboats are the best use of the lake. i would love to have us not get into that business. on the other hand, if our land is lying fallow and is

two, as identified in the golden gate master plan recreational facilities, balancing the demand for recreation with the purpose of the parked as a pastoral retreat, the play fields renovation will reduce the need of having new sports fields at: gate park and will improve and maintain the existing recreational facilities. three, under the golden gate master plan special area plants in richmond and sunshine treatment plant site, the plainfield renovation will eliminate the need for an additional soccer field in the richmond the sunshine treatment plant site and create the opportunity to create the richmond sunshine treatment plant site for other park uses consistent with the golden gate master plan special area plan, richmond-sunset plan site. four, as identified in the golden gate athletic fields, the beach chalet field suffer from high demand, over u.s., poor field conditions, what conditions, and porterage, and the plainfield renovation will mitigate these conditions and significantly improve the area for recreational use, reduce maintenance expenses for these fields. five, it will bring this

the second it in the recreation facilities portion of the of the master plan. it recognizes that this facility is heavily used, has maintenance problems is -- and is a recognized recreation facility in the infrastructure. then the last two sections point to two specific plan areas that are for the west end of the park. one is the west end plan. the other is the richmond-sunset treatment facility plan. both talk to each other in that section. the west end plan briefly reflects itself back to the other plan but essentially what it's saying is that the west end doesn't have the activity it should. we need to bring more positive activity to the west end and activate that space. the master plan considers adding a fifth soccer pitch where the treatment facility used to be. it also recognized that a 30 to 40-car parking lot should be added at that area. it contemplates the addition of a 2,500 square foot pavilion which would be a community space, a place for roller skating, bike rentals -- those are all great and we think that our project dovetails with that goal. obv

let's talk about recreation. the golden gate tennis and swim club was developed by the sec francisco redevelopment agency to meet the needs of middle class residents in an area that has no recreation space. in 1994, just for history's sake, mayor feinstein urged the redevelopment agency to reject a similar kondo plan. to crowd a condominium tower would be regrettable, is what the mayor said. he pointed out the existing golden gateway was chosen because "the provision of open space was a factor in that selection." this is the open space we will be getting rid of. my district has the least amount of open space in the city. one-third of the residents are seniors. most are middle class. this is contrary to what you have heard during the course of this discussion. we have a choice between 90,000 square feet of outdoor recreation space compared to 20,000 square feet of open space promised by the developer when the city gives the developer $5 million. we are destroying community and i am not sure for what reason. i'm go

youth were denied access to the recreation areas. i am sure you know that 92% of incarcerated youth have experienced a traumatic event. according to a letter sent to the board of supervisors from a nurse who works in a juvenile justice center, she expressed a lack of outdoor large muscle activity contributes to migraines, headaches, and self- inflicted harm. also vitamin d which disproportionately affects the african american population in the justice center. outdoor recreation is imperative to the health of our youth. there will come back to our community and it is our goal to have them positively integrate back into society. i will say it is fair their in their = -- there for not being able to positively play with members of their community. one of the best ways to accomplish this and integrate them back into society is to teach them how to learn. one of the best ways this can be accomplished is to make sure that the requirement for young people to enjoy the opportunity of one hour of large muscle activity outdoors. all those juven

i have always said that making sure we have properly funded recreational space is not just about recreation. it is something that implicates and involves public safety. the fact is that being able to have recreational opportunities is something that makes every community safer and it is not just of public safety issue, it is a public health issue. we want to make sure we have young people and all residents engage in recreational activity. it is something that goes to the core of what makes a neighborhood level. i am very proud to be a sponsor of this effort. i want to acknowledge the work that rec and park department has done. i also want to thank my colleagues on the board of supervisors who have also made funding a priority. we have the distinct honor of sharing that park. it is truly an amazing asset to the city. i know so many in that community have organized to make sure that additional funding is provided. i am glad we will seat -- i am glad we will have funding to the level of $10 million for the park. it is a step in the right direction. i look forward to continuing to work to make