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Lawsuit against historic Sharp Park gets dismissed

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:24:00 GMT

Advocates of public golf in San Francisco, who have fought doggedly the last few years in support of Sharp Park golf course in nearby Pacifica, Calif., were taking a deep breath and looking toward the future Friday following Thursday's dismissal of a lawsuit that threatened the 80-year-old Alister Mackenzie design.

"It's a tremendous victory," said Bo Links, co-founder of the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, co-defendant in the suit with the City and County of San Francisco. "It now opens the door for restoration plans to move forward in earnest, including the restoration of Mackenzie features on the course and hopefully a Mackenzie museum in a new, restored clubhouse."

Various non-profit conversation groups had sued the city for violating the Endangered Species Act, alleging that the course harmed the threatened California red-legged frog and the endangered San Francisco garter snake. In ordering the dismissal, U.S. District Court judge Susan Illston cited an Oct. 2 biological opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that found golf at Sharp Park "is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the California red-legged frog or San Francisco garter snake."

Sharp Park's maintenance operations must be done under strict FWS restrictions designed to protect the amphibian and reptile. In its report, the FWS said it anticipates over a 10-year period one adult frog and one snake "will be subject to incidental take in the form of death or injury" because of golf operation and maintenance.

"This is a common sense result," said Chris Carr, an attorney representing the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance. "And it should lead to a period of cooperation in which San Francisco and San Mateo County can work together to restore habitat for the species, while preserving historic and popular public recreation."

Sharp Park came close to possibly being shut down in December 2011 when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance that would have transferred the supervision of Sharp Park to the National Park Service. The golf course was spared when San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee vetoed the legislation, writing, "I believe in striving for equilibrium between environmental and recreational needs."

In the wake of the lawsuit's dismissal, Links reflected on the lengthy battle to thwart efforts to close the course.

"I remember being in the Sharp Park clubhouse one evening in 2005 or so, warning people that this stuff [threat] was coming," Links said. "They couldn't believe it and hooted us out of the room. Now, they're saying thank you for warning us. The property is in jeopardy, and if you want to preserve it, you have to fight to preserve it. That's just the way it is.

"In a way, it's a message for anybody who cares about golf," Links continued. "If you care about it, you have to support it. You can't let your guard down. You've got to educate people, become an ambassador of the game and communicate it to non-golfers too so they understand the values and merit of golf. This game has endured for 500 years for a reason."

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My Instagram tour of golf in the Bay Area

Matt Ginella — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 23:48:00 GMT

In March I came to San Francisco to report a travel story for the June Issue of Golf Digest . I played Harding Park, Presidio, Lincoln Park (pictured), Sharp Park in Pacifica and Pasatiempo in...

GW Reader: You missed the point on Sharp Park

Bob Carney — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:42:00 GMT

Bill Fields' excellent coverage (in photos and reportage) of the controversy over and possible closing of Sharp Park GC in California, drew this letter from a reader opposed to keeping the course open. And, yes,...

San Francisco mayor's decision helps Sharp Park

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:38:00 GMT

Citing a desire to see both habitat restoration and affordable public golf at Sharp Park golf course, San Francisco mayor Edwin Lee on Monday vetoed legislation that would have transferred the supervision of the site to the National Park Service and likely shuttered the 1932 Alister Mackenzie design.

In a letter communicating his veto to San Francisco's board of supervisors, which voted 6-5 for the ordinance Dec. 13, Lee noted ongoing environmental analysis by the city's Recreation and Park Department that would restore 19 acres of habitat as well as negotiations with San Mateo County for a long-term partnership to manage the course.

Sharp Park, located in Pacifica, Calif., has been under attack by conservation groups concerned about the health of a frog and snake species that live there, but the mayor's veto gives the course renewed hope about its future.

"The ordinance that I am vetoing would bring these productive discussions to a halt, and instead compel the Department to begin dialogue anew with the National Park Service about closing the golf course at Sharp Park," Lee wrote. "I believe in striving for equilibrium between environmental and recreational needs. The implicit aim of this legislation -- cutting off talks with San Mateo County and envisioning the end of golf operations at Sharp Park -- is not a balanced approach ..."

-- Bill Fields
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Historic Sharp Park's fate hangs in the balance

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:19:00 GMT

For scores of folks in and around San Francisco, a man named Ed Lee is now the most important golfer in the world.

Lee is the mayor of San Francisco, said to play the game. But over the next 10 days, unless he makes the right call, many golfers in the Bay Area will likely lose a course they love to play, a course that has been open since 1932, a municipal course that starkly defies many of the negative and clichéd stereotypes those who dislike golf love to perpetuate. The muny is accessible and inexpensive, enjoyed by people of various collars and colors.

Environmental opponents of Sharp Park golf course in Pacifica., Calif. -- in the name of saving an imperiled reptile and an amphibian that, according to other smart folks, with a bit of work, can happily coexist with the Alister Mackenzie design -- have been trying for a couple of years to shut it down. On Tuesday they got as close as they have come to getting that done.

Photo by Bill Fields

The board of supervisors in San Francisco, which controls Sharp Park even though it is located in suburban Pacifica, voted 6-5 to transfer management of Sharp Park to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The ordinance doesn't stipulate that the course definitely would be closed, but that is scant encouragement to those who play approximately 50,000 rounds a year at Sharp Park and tireless advocates who want to preserve the golf ground shaped by one of the sport's most significant architects.

Court system on Sharp Park's side... for now

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:12:00 GMT

A preliminary injunction sought by opponents of Sharp Park golf course in Pacifica, Calif., to stop pumping and mowing on half of the 1932 Alister Mackenzie layout -- measures that would have effectively shut it down -- has been denied by a California court.

In a 15-page ruling issued Tuesday in San Francisco, U.S. District Court judge Susan Illston wrote that the the plaintiffs had "failed to meet their burden of showing irreparable harm to the California Red-Legged Frog or the San Francisco Garter Snake" caused by the operation of the municipal course.

Photo by Bill Fields

A group of non-profit conservation groups has sued the City of San Francisco, arguing that the operation of the course has caused "taking" of the frog, a threatened species, and the snake, an endangered species. The city and advocates of Sharp Park, including the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, argued that the course has been taking actions to protect the two species, including egg masses of the frog.

Historic Sharp Park Under Fire

Bill Fields — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Bill Fields tells the story of Sharp Park golf course in a black and white photo essay

Diaz: Hanging In The Balance

Jaime Diaz — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Presidents Cup will shed an important light on the future of public golf in San Francisco

Saving Verdugo Hills

Geoff Russell — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:38:00 GMT

In the July 20 issue of Golf World, we published this story by Geoff Shackelford about Sharp Park, a public golf course in Pacifica, Calif., that has drawn the ire of environmentalists who think the...

Golf: Sharply Divided

Geoff Shackelford — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What's best for Sharp Park, a dandy Pacifica, Calif., muny designed by Alister Mackenzie? Conservation advocates, pro-golf locals have very different answers