These trees are slated to be removed to make way for new baseball fields at Crocker Amazon Playground in San Francisco. Some residents are protesting the proposed park makeover, saying that the artificial turf planned on the new fields will ruin plant and wildlife habitats, and that the redesign will limit access for park visitors.
Brontë Wittpenn/S.F. Chronicle
Opposition is heating up in southern San Francisco over a plan to turn an open meadow at Crocker Amazon Playground into part of a youth baseball and softball complex, with critics warning it would reduce shared green space and reshape how the park is used.
Supervisor Chyanne Chen is now pushing for more community input before the $50 million proposal moves forward.
In a social media post this week, Chen said she had the backing of Mayor Daniel Lurie to revisit the project, funded jointly by the San Francisco Giants Community Fund and the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.
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“We know that the renovation project will transform Crocker into even more of a citywide asset than it is today, but that can’t come at the expense of the needs of our neighborhood park users,” Chen said in a statement to the Chronicle. “As currently designed, the renovation plan would convert a shared, multi-generational and multi-ethnic public space into a specialized fenced-in facility serving a specific user group.”
The proposal, announced last August, would renovate a rundown, overgrown side of the park into a sleek new sports facility, but it has generated backlash for plans to remove 120 mature trees and install synthetic turf at five of the six ball diamonds. The trees would be replanted at twice the current number, but with 10 acres of synthetic turf already covering the adjacent soccer fields, the plan would result in more than half of the playground being covered in artificial surfaces, raising concerns about environmental impacts.
San Francisco Supervisor Chyanne Chen, shown in January, is calling for more community input on plans to renovate Crocker Amazon Playground.
Minh Connors/For the S.F. Chronicle
“This would fundamentally change the character of the park and limit access for many current users,” Chen said. “We can and must do better to preserve natural areas, uplift environmental justice, and also address the needs of the youth, family, and elder park users who do not participate in organized athletics.”
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Two community meetings on the topic have already been held by Rec and Park staff this year. After the first meeting, the Giants and Rec and Park added an oval of green space to the plan that can be used for tai chi but did not cut any of the six proposed sports fields, which include one grass field.
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“The supervisor feels that the current proposal has not gone far enough to strike a balance between the renovations to the baseball and softball fields to serve athletic users and the need to serve neighborhood youth and elders,” said Charlie Sciammas, legislative aide to Chen, who serves District 11.
Sciammas said the new community meeting will likely be scheduled for a Saturday morning in the Crocker-Amazon District, which is on the southern edge of the city, near the Daly City line.
“This project has benefited greatly from community feedback and we’re happy to keep collaborating,” said Sarah Madland, interim general manager of the Recreation and Parks Department. “Supervisor Chen has been thoughtful about making sure neighbors are heard, and we look forward to our continued work together.”
The improvement project is in the environmental review process and must still go before both the Recreation and Park Commission and the Board of Supervisors for approval, but a grass-roots group organized to oppose the plan, Keep Crocker Real, says it has been pushed through without adequate public input.
Opponents of the Crocker Amazon Playground renovation plan place signs on trees in San Francisco on Sunday.
Brontë Wittpenn/S.F. Chronicle
Earlier in March, a protest was held at the playground, with a dozen activists from Keep Crocker Real tying yellow ribbons around the trees to be removed for construction, and hanging cardboard signs from the branches to raise public awareness. At Giants Fan Fest last Saturday, Keep Crocker Real held a rally outside Oracle Park, with about 20 protesters engaging in a call-and-response chant: “When our public parks are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.”
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A few days later, Chen posted her call for a community meeting.
“The Giants and Rec and Park are going to have to be heard by the community one more time,” said Bob Hall of Keep Crocker Real, as he was on his way Wednesday to Crocker Amazon to measure the heat on the synthetic soccer fields already installed and the grass baseball diamond slated for replacement. “We don’t think people know about this so we’re happy that the community has a chance to express themselves and decide if the park wants to be demolished or not.”
Synthetic surfaces cover 12 sports fields in the Rec and Park portfolio citywide as part of the department’s strategy to expand youth sports and maximize field availability. The artificial surfaces are designed to withstand the weather and not break down the way natural grass does. Rec and Park recently adopted a synthetic turf program policy to ensure that all artificial surfaces are state of the art and tested for environmental health.
“I support youth athletics and we have thousands of families who want more access to sporting fields and to have them 100% of the time,” said Kat Anderson, president of the Recreation and Park Commission. “The Giants recognize how critical it is that these kids have athletic play, and that’s why they are investing in this project.”
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