City staff propose limits on field reservations after large soccer club begins scheduling Hyde Park fields

Hyde Park — City staff told the council on Sept. 10 that a private soccer club’s increased use of municipal fields has prompted staff to propose changes to the city’s field-rental policy to prevent monopolization and cover staff overtime.

Marcus, a city staff member, said the club historically used fields informally and free of charge but recently began paying to schedule fields after losing access to other locations. Staff said the club’s expanded scheduling risked crowding out other residents and groups that use public fields. “If we’re gonna be paying somebody overtime to come babysit the fields during these events, we need to have them registered and a fee paid so we can cover that staff time,” Marcus said.

Staff suggested drafting policy language that would limit how far in advance a single user may reserve fields and require registration and fees for events that impose overtime. The council discussed practical options; one member supported allowing scheduling up to one month in advance so groups could plan but not monopolize the season. “I say a month in advance. I’m fine with ... I don’t think we need to reserve any fields for public use because if you’re gonna just play a pickup game with your kids, you can hit a variety of places,” a council member said.

Marcus noted the city already charges a per-day use fee for reservations and that other municipalities in the valley use similar programs. Staff said they will draft proposed policy language for council review, including possible caps on long-term reservations, to keep fields publicly available while allowing the city to recover costs.

Ending — Staff will prepare draft field-rental policy language and return to council with recommended limits and fee structures for formal consideration; no ordinance or fee changes were adopted at the Sept. 10 meeting.