San Francisco's Soccer War Moves From Street to Ballot Box

The main Prop. H backers are preservationists of one sort or another, who all insist on keeping the park in its unadulterated, grassy state. Though the fields in question are poorly maintained and pockmarked with gopher holes, Prop. H supporters prefer that to the city's planned renovation, which would include bleachers, a children's playground, 60-foot light towers, and what members of the Sierra Club have taken to calling "toxic turf" — the rubber-crumb substance that blankets soccer pitches throughout the city. 

Last week, the grass-huggers found an unexpected ally in the San Francisco Latino Democratic Club, which redoubled its fight against park privatization after video surfaced of Dropbox and Airbnb employees displacing pickup soccer players in the Mission. The now-ubiquitous "Mission Playground Is Not for Sale" video generated so much vitriol that San Francisco's Recreation & Park Department scrapped its permitting system for Mission Playground; the San Francisco Latino Democratic Club, in turn, took a public stance against the rehab effort at Beach Chalet.

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Prop. H supporters -- which include the Sierra Club, Coalition to Protect Golden Gate Park and Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods -- argue that artificial turf makes "noxious fumes" and that runoff is environmentally damaging. They also complained about "light pollution" from keeping the fields illuminated until 10 p.m. 

"The jury is still out on synthetic turf and whether or not it is safe to play in," said Sue Vaughan, chairwoman of the Sierra Club's San Francisco chapter. 

The Recreation and Park Department's Master Plan states that the western edge of the park should remain natural, Vaughan said, and that it's fair to say the plan creators had no idea the Beach Chalet soccer fields would be targeted for synthetic turf and night lights. 

But those behind Prop. I, which was placed on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors, said thousands more children would be able to access the athletic fields with the improvements, especially with extra space becoming available without needing to book in advance. 

"A month before construction, Proposition H was put on the ballot to stop the project and undo all those years of public process and continue to deny San Francisco's kids the opportunity to play on these fields," said Patrick Hannan, campaign manager for Yes on I.

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