City Hall Hearing Room: Golden Gate Park supporters lined up at the beginning of the Beach Chalet appeal hearing. The line stretched around the back of the room, all the way to the entry doors!
On July 10 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10 – 1 to affirm certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Beach Chalet soccer fields (see previous article). Over 70 people testified eloquently in favor of reversing the certification–among them Sierra Club Bay Chapter chair Arthur Feinstein. Unfortunately, much misinformation was given to the Supervisors during the seven-hour hearing, which appellant attorney Richard Drury was given only three minutes to counter. The lone vote to reverse the FEIR certification and to protect Golden Gate Park was cast by Supervisor Christina Olague.
This is not our last opportunity to save the western end of Golden Gate Park from over seven acres of artificial turf and 150,000 watts of sports lighting. The Sierra Club is co-appellant with SF Ocean Edge and other groups for an appeal of the coastal permit to the San Francisco Board of Appeals. If that appeal is turned down, then the next step would be an appeal to the California Coastal Commission.
WhatYouCanDo
Please write to Supervisor Christine Olague at Christina.Olague@sfgov.org. Thank her for voting against the Beach Chalet FEIR.
Come testify at the hearing for the coastal-permit appeal at 5 pm, Wed., Aug. 1, at City Hall in Room 416.
For up-to-date information go to http://www.sfoceanedge.org.
Katherine Howard, SF Ocean Edge
