Date: October 28, 1999
To: Athletic Field User Groups
From: Dave Brees, Recreation Services Manager
Subject: Good Neighbor Field Use Policy
As the fall season is underway, I am seeking your assistance in preserving the quality of our parks and our neighborhoods. Athletic groupuse of our fields impacts not only the turf area of the playing fields but also the surrounding park amenities, streets and neighbor homes. Our Good Neighbor Field Use policy is designed to provide you the user with a quality field for play; preserve the quality of life for the residents surrounding our parks; and to protect the integrity of the park.
The Good Neighbor policy is straight forward - Treat the park and surrounding community as you would like to have your own park and neighborhood treated. Common sense should prevail in the interpretation of this policy. Listed below are areas of particular concern.
Parking: Please have your group park in designated facility parking lots whenever possible. If street parking is necessary, never, never, never (repeated for emphasis!) park in front of a neighbor's driveway or block sidewalk access. We are experiencing particular parking problems at the JLS fields and Greer Park field number five..
You may want to consider establishing a car pool system for your participants.
Noise: Please be sensitive to the noise levels your activities generate, particularly in the early weekend mornings. Your group may be eager to get going at the
crack of dawn but not all the neighbors are so eager.
Restrooms: Please advise your participants to use their own facilities at home before coming to our fields. Do not use the trees, bushes or other
strategic locations at the fields for this purpose! Kids play in the trees and bushes in the parks and at the schools. It is not fair to them to have to watch
out for human waste. We are experiencing this problem at all the fields and particularly at Jordan.
Rain: Please adhere to the city's Rain Closure policy. One reckless use of a field can ruin the field for an entire season.
You may want to consider setting up a rain closure hotline similar to ours for your team members to check in and determine game status. Another suggestion is
to post the Rain Closure policy on the back of your group's game schedule. The Palo Alto Adult Soccer League has been very successful with this idea.
Trash: Please remember to pack your trash. This includes the trash generated specifically by your activity and the trash  generated by the spectators watching your activity.
You may want to assign a trash patrol to canvass your area after your use. Every park is equipped with trash cans and recycling bins.
Vehicles:Please keep your vehicles out of the parks and off of school grounds. Unauthorized vehicles in the parks have increased. These vehicles pose a
safety threat to park users, damage turf areas, and cause considerable damage to the park irrigation systems.
You will notice there are several pleases in this memo, we are trying to be nice! Please inform your team members, spectators,
families and friends of our policies. Failure to abide by these policies may result in the loss of field use privileges for your group. You
could be left with no field for your program and a nasty reputation in the community. Please don't let this happen to you!
If you have any questions, thoughts, or comments on how we can minimize athletic field user group impacts on the parks and neighborhoods, please call my office at 650 329-2510 or E-mail me at dave_brees@city.palo-alto.ca.us.