Glendale Recreational
Field Development
We are reaching out to the families and friends of AYSO Region 88 Glendale to help support an important decision for Glendale recreational fields by the Glendale City Council on Tuesday, June 28 at 6:00 pm.
AYSO Region 88 Glendale is in favor of artificial turf fields at the five (5) proposed locations (including Glendale Sports Complex (#3) and Wilson Middle School)
Artificial turf is a more durable solution for playing fields in Glendale considering the number of players who participate each year (over 3,500 players participated between August 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022).
Players/Volunteers risk injury playing in “dirt or mud” and games must be canceled after inclement weather (eg. rain).
Artificial turf fields are less costlier to maintain and require substantially less water.
Disapproval of this project may impact future funding for refurbishing/replacement of all current turf fields (Glendale Sports Complex and other turf fields).
What can I do to help?
Please email the city today at csp@glendaleca.gov and your feedback will be shared with City Council or;
The meeting will be held in City Hall Council Chambers located at 613 E. Broadway, Room 200 beginning at 6:00 p.m. on June 28, 2022. If you can’t attend in-person, but would like to share your position, please call (818) 937-8100 during the meeting.
Email Option 1:
Mr. Mayor, Members of Council,
I am writing to you as a long-time resident of the Jewel City, our beloved City of Glendale encouraging all of you to vote for use of Artificial Turf as the playing surface for our sports fields. This surface is the most resilient surface in comparison to natural grass. It affords for year-round use of the field with minimal downtime for maintenance. Ultimately, to address the need of having more field times available to us, the best solution to address this matter is by voting for the type of field that will maximize the availability of fields throughout the year, vote for using artificial turf.
Thank you for your Consideration
Email Option 2:
Honorable Mayor and Members of Council,
I am a resident of Glendale and a sports team parent. I watched the joint commission meeting. There was much talk about how artificial turf's surface temperature is hotter than grass. Councilmembers, I urge you to vote for artificial turf because as you all know, every decision has its pluses and minuses. For our family, our team, the plusses that artificial turf brings to the community far outweigh any of the reasons people expressed in that meeting.
Thank you for your time.
Email Option 3:
Dear Councilmembers,
Please vote for artificial turf to be used on sports fields. In the past 20 years, Glendale is a first hand eye witness of what happens to natural grass on sports fields, especially fields that have high traffic like those use for soccer and football. Those fields were converted to artificial turf. Once those fields were converted to turf, players have had access to a field year-round and we have not had any issues. Sports Complex, Pacific, CV, Hoover, Roosevelt, Glendale High. I don't understand why the City would consider natural grass for sports fields when we ourselves have seen the benefit and the positive impact of those same fields when we finally changed them to artificial turf? I don't understand why the school district is worried when they have more artificial turf fields than the city does, not just in high schools, but in elementary schools too.
If a person wants to enjoy the beauty of nature or picnic on the grass with family, they are welcome to go to the park with natural grass and shade and various other amenities. That person should not claim they will picnic on a sports field made for playing sports and say they don't want to picnic on artificial turf. They cannot picnic there anyway.
Be smart, learn from our own experience, vote to use artificial turf on fields where sports are played.
Thank you
Email Option 4:
Dear City Council,
I am a long-time resident of Glendale. I support building more fields with artificial turf. I want my kids to play all year and artificial turf gives them access to a field all year. More fields available to their team with artificial turf means more time playing sports and less time playing with electronic devices. More time playing sports means more physical activity. Please vote for artificial turf and allow more children to play sports.
Thank you
Detail
The City has been working with Citadel EHS, an environmental health consulting firm to analyze the lifecycles of artificial turf vs. natural turf for playing fields in Glendale. A report with the results of this study was presented to the Sustainability Commission and Parks, Recreation & Community Services Commission at a joint meeting earlier in June. Here is the result of that meeting:
The Sustainability Commission voted to recommended that artificial turf be considered only for the Glendale Sports Complex Field #3. At all other locations, it is recommended that only natural grass be considered for field installations.
The Parks, Recreation & Community Services Commission voted to recommend that artificial turf be considered for the Glendale Sports Complex Field #3, Fremont Park, and Pacific Park. At the other 2 locations (which are shared school locations), it is recommended that City Council work with GUSD to determine field types.
The final discussion about the use of artificial turf will be held next Tuesday, June 28th at the 6:00 p.m. City Council meeting. The Council will be reviewing the recommendations from the joint commission meeting, and will hear from the public on their position concerning artificial turf fields before making a decision about the use of artificial turf fields in Glendale. There are five potential field projects in the near future, Fremont Park, Pacific Park, Sports Complex, Cerritos Elementary, and Wilson Middle School. After reviewing the report and the recommendation from both Commissions, should City Council approve the use of artificial turf for these projects, then the projects will move forward with use of artificial turf in the project’s plans.
Should City Council not approve the use of artificial turf, then the projects will consist of natural turf for Fremont Park, Glendale Sports Complex and Pacific Park. The two projects at Cerritos Elementary and Wilson Middle school will be on hold until a different funding source is secured.
We invite you to join us in person at the Council Chambers or watch the meeting at home on Channel 6 or stream it live on an electronic device. You can access the meeting online at: www.glendaleca.gov and click on “Live Streaming” at the very bottom right of the home page, or visit www.youtube.com/c/myglendale once the meeting starts. If this topic is of importance to you, we strongly encourage you to share your thoughts/opinions for future development of athletic fields in Glendale. You may share your thoughts in-person, call in to the meeting, or email in advance if you are not available to call or attend.
Please click on the following link to view the interactive HTML agenda for the June 28, 2022. You can download the report by clicking on Action Item 8c: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Triple Bottom Line (3BL) Assessment of Natural Turf vs. Artificial Turf.
Video
Joint Sustainability Commission and Parks, Recreation & Community Services Commission (06/02/22)
Mark Garcia Board Member
Leonard Manoukian Board Member
Iain Blackwood Board Member