Politics & Government

Golfers Will Fight SF Supe's Proposal To Close Sharp Park

San Francisco Public Golf Alliance opposes Avalos proposed legislation to give away Sharp Park.

A proposal by San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos to give away the historic and popular Sharp Park Golf Course to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a high-handed political ploy, and a slap at multi-ethnic, working-class public recreation. The San Francisco Public Golf Alliance will fight the Avalos proposal. 

The 80-year-old golf course, located in Pacifica, and designed by legendary golf architect Alister MacKenzie, is owned by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. Its greens fees are among the most affordable in the Bay Area. The GGNRA has said it will not operate a golf course at Sharp Park.

A narrowly-focused group of anti-golf extremists want the golf course closed. And Supervisor Avalos is currying to this group, in disregard of an historically popular, well-used, and affordable public facility, that serves the working-class, all ethnic groups, seniors, and juniors and high school students in both San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. Supervisor Avalos’ proposed give-away legislation also ignores two years of public study, public hearings, and decisions and positions taken by every public agency that has considered the matter in both San Francisco and San Mateo County.

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“It would be like giving-away the cable cars because a small, angry group won’t stop complaining about the noise,” said Sharp Park golfer and San Francisco Public Golf Alliance spokeswoman Lauren Barr. 

Avalos’ Sharp Park give-away proposed disregards two years of Recreation & Park Department studies, several public hearings attended by hundreds of members of the public, and the decisions of the Rec & Park Commission and its citizens’ advisory commission, the Park, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Committee. Both of these entities have gone on record against a Sharp Park give-away to the GGNRA. 

Find out what's happening in Pacificawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It also ignores the Pacifica Recycled Water Project, a joint venture of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and Pacifica’s North Coast County Water District, which is currently under construction on an $8.8 Million wastewater treatment distribution system, to use Pacifica’s treated sewage water to irrigate the Sharp Park Golf Course.  That project was approved by both the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Recreation and Park Commission in 2010 and 2011.

Sharp Park lies within the congressional district of Congresswoman Jackie Speier, whose district includes parts of both San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. She is on record as opposed to closing the Sharp Park Golf Course. Both the San Mateo Board of Supervisors and the Pacifica City Council are opposed to any action that will result in the closure of the Sharp Park Golf Course. 

Sources:

County of San Mateo, Resolution of Board of Supervisors, Dec. 18, 2007: http://sharppark.savegolf.net/data/smbos_res.pdf

City of Pacifica, Resolution of City Council, Dec. 10, 2007: http://sharppark.savegolf.net/data/cop_res.pdf

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, 12th U.S. Congressional District, Press Release, Nov. 9, 2009: http://speier.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=48&parentid=46&sectiontree=46,48&itemid=330

San Francisco Chronicle editorial, Sept. 3, 2009: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/09/03/EDN019GUJ6.DTL

PROSAC, Resolutions [Nos. 1 and 2], adopted by votes of 14-1 and 13-2 on Dec. 1, 2009, submitted to Rec & Park Commission on Dec. 3, 2009: (a) http://sfpublicgolf.com/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=44912 (b) http://sf-recpark.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/meetings/Park_Recreation_and_Open_Space_Advisory_Committee_(PROSAC)/minutes/2009/PROSAC_minutes_Dec1_2009.doc

San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission Resolution No. 0912-018, Agenda Item No. 11, adopted by unanimous 6-0 vote, Dec. 17, 2009: http://sf-recpark.org/index.aspx?page=965

North Coast County Water District, Pacifica Waste Water Treatment Project: http://www.nccwd.com/Recycled%20Water.html

Submitted by Richard Harris


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