FAQ

Got questions? Email us at hello@friendsofespritpark.org

Who raised the money for the Esprit Park renovation?

A core group of neighbors represented the community in discussions with UCSF regarding a grant to offset the development of their two student housing buildings on Minnesota St. and medical building at Tennessee and 18th. The Esprit Park project received $5 million out of the $10 million distributed. The remaining $2.4 million was procured by the SF Planning department from the Eastern Neighborhoods Citizens Advisory Group, a group of neighbors tasked with disbursing the impact fees paid by developers.

When will the Esprit Park renovation start?

Currently, the Esprit Park renovation is 2 years off of schedule. UCSF requested that the project team form an Esprit Citizens Advisory Group (ECAG) made up of stakeholder representatives from Dogpatch and Potrero Hill. These members were unanimous in their desire to follow the plans created in 2018. Rec & Park wants to fence the park, remove 50% of the grass and replace it with artificial turf. When the ECAG refused to agree to this plan, Rec & Park stopped meeting with the ECAG. In order to move forward, Rec & Park needs to get neighbor approval, then present the plan to the Parks Commission and Board of Supervisors.

When will the Esprit Park renovation be done?

The estimate for the Esprit Park renovation is 1 year after the start of the renovation. There will also be time where the park is closed .

Does Supervisor Walton support the Esprit Park renovation plan?

Supervisor Walton has expressed that he supports the plan for the Esprit Renovation that neighbors want.

Why does Rec & Park want to put fake grass in Esprit?

Esprit Park has historically been used as an illegal dog play area for 20 years. Rather than make the dog play legal in half the park and leave Esprit Park as a multi-use space similar to Dolores Park, Alamo Square Park, and Duboce Park , Rec & Park wants to convert Esprit Park into a dog run. Converting Esprit Park into a dog run saves the Rec & Park department money in maintenance. However, they are already maintaining the park, so they view the conversion as a way for them to funnel funds to a different park.

I’m scared of dogs and don’t go to Esprit because of the dogs, how do the plans for the park support me?

In coming up with the design for the park, every effort was made to address the concerns of every possible user.

Currently, the dogs are illegally running over 100% of the park. By legalizing and restricting their usage to only 50% of the park, we can then apply rules that say dogs are either not allowed, or only allowed on-leash in half the park.

Fencing is discouraged because it attracts dog walkers, who bring an even larger multitude of dogs to the park. Fencing also takes away the park from non-dog users. For people who don’t have dogs, but don’t mind their presence, they can use 100% of the park. With a fence, any person without a dog can only enjoy 50% of the park. No one is going to picnic in a dog run.

More natural barriers such as large plantings have been placed strategically around the off-leash dog area to discourage dogs from going to exercise nodes, universal play areas, and picnic tables.

Has Rec & Park provided any data for the renovation or rationale for the decision making?

No. Rec & Park has only provided minor details and insist that neighbors should just trust them. They have refused to provide any data that would allow neighbors to make educated decisions and analysis. When given a spreadsheet for them to fill out, they ignored it. Requests for data have been made by the ECAG for over 2 years.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1D1ggXKwLALVXElOEZu9lCK-l6M9LZbhEOz6tCEWxnsc/edit#gid=0