Sharp Park Golf Course: Pacifica, CA
On December 16 the debate over the future of the Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica will be – again – discussed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisor's Government Audits and Oversight Committee and on December 17th the San Francisco Park and Recreation Commission
The debate over the future use of the Sharp Park site, owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco but located in the City of Pacifica, has been a back and forth battle between environmentalists who want to see the historic course made into a biological preserve for the frogs and snakes and golfers and other recreational users who wish to see the course maintained and even improved.
For years, the Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica has been a target of environmental concern, particularly by the Center for Biological Diversity, a national organization which advocates for the protection of biological resources and endangered species. The web site, www.restoresharppark.org, sponsored by the Center, details the basics of the proposal.
The Center had threatened a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco for failing to adequately protect species such as the endangered San Francisco Garter Snake and the Red-Legged Frog, both of which call portions of the Sharp Park Golf Course home.
In lieu of filing a lawsuit, the Center agreed to negotiations. But amidst rumors of the Center’s dissatisfaction with the progress of those negotiations, San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi was enlisted to introduce legislation to force the issue last spring.
The legislation introduced by Mirkarimi compelled the Recreation & Parks Department to Commission a study to determine the viability of maintaining the Gold Course while protecting the integrity of the habitat of the two endangered species, the California Red-Legged Frog and the San Francisco Garter Snake.
But much to the chagrin of environmentalists and Mirkarimi in particular, the study commissioned by the SFR&PD concluded that the Golf Course could be maintained as a full service 18-hole course – with some adjustments – while preserving the critical habitat.
According to Philip Ginsburg, the General Manager of the SFR&PD, the study conclusively demonstrated that not only could the frogs and snakes survive “…but flourish at Sharp Park by restoring the two most valuable habitat for the two species,” which include ponds and wetlands now utilized by both.
Nonetheless, the political wrangling continues because beneath the environmental concerns and potentially very real threat of lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco is a big dose of good old fashioned politics.
The main proponent behind the effort to shutter the golf course is Brent Plater, a former staff attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity and avid environmental activist. For Plater, securing this habitat for the snakes and frogs would be a major environmental coup d’etat. Strategically, Plater has made a smart move by attacking Sharp Park. The City and County of San Francisco is struggling financially with an estimated $525 million deficit next year out of a $6 billion annual budget with deficits in the out years predicated as well. The Golf Course operated by the City is one of many but it is the only one located outside of the borders of San Francisco – making it far less of a constituent issue for San Francisco elected officials who would be otherwise cautious about taking out a public asset within the city and away from voters.
That is also likely why Supervisor Mirkarimi entered the fray. Shuttering Sharp Park – while perhaps one viable alternative in dealing with some very real threats to the city – is a soft target with which Mirkarimi can burnish his environmental credentials.
This circumstance is unfortunate for the people of Pacifica and the surrounding environs who use the golf course, archery range and trail areas for recreation of all sorts that is available for low or no cost. The Sharp Park Golf Course is really a blue-collar golfing venue with some vistas to rival some of the best coastal courses in the world, although admittedly the course could use some major investment for needed improvements.
But the effort to Close Sharp Park has been dealt some major blows. Months ago, representatives from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA, the Federal park that rings much of San Francisco, expressed a lack of interest or capacity for adding the Sharp Park property to the GGNRA – a major rationale in support of closing the golf course and a means for San Francisco to relieve itself of the responsibility of the long term requirements of property no matter what it will be in the future.
Worse yet for the proponents of closing Sharp Park, the study commissioned by the Recreation & Parks Department has essentially pulled the scientific rug out from underneath both Plater and Mirkarimi.
So, with the ever expanding egg on the face of both proponents, two scenarios are likely: either the battle over Sharp Park will be exclusively political as both will struggle to regain some legitimacy or both will beat a quiet retreat.
Let’s hope for the latter.
Authors Note:
Below is a link to an article December 10, 2009 [Thursday] article San Mateo County Times by Julie Scott reporting that US Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) list the $2.2 million appropriation for Sharp Park Golf Course to be in the top 100 examples of "waste and mismanegment" of US stimulus money. Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA Hillsborough) said that "McCain and Coburn have deliberately conflated the debate over the future of the course and the recycled water project, which will create 275 jobs and irrigate some high school playing fields in addition to the golf course — all while conserving about 50 million gallons of potable water each year."
On December 16, 2009 the debate over the future of the Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica will be – again – discussed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisor's Government Audits and Oversight Committee and on December 17th the San Francisco Park and Recreation Commission
www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/ci_13964270
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