Santa Clara council adopts new field-use fee schedule after months of talks with youth sports groups

The Santa Clara City Council on Tuesday adopted a phased fee schedule for use of city sports fields and turf areas that will charge resident youth nonprofit groups $8 per hour beginning July 1, 2025, while approving an incremental escalation plan and reserving synthetic-turf and lighting surcharges for future rollout.

Council approval followed more than a year of meetings with local sports organizations and a Parks and Recreation staff recommendation intended to balance affordability for resident youth leagues with the city’s need to recover operating and long-term capital costs.

Parks and Recreation Director Damon Sparacino told the council the city began charging youth sports organizations for field-use permits in fall of 2022 as part of an effort to narrow the gap between General Fund subsidies and maintenance and replacement needs. “The city began charging youth sports organizations for field use permits in fall of '22,” Sparacino said during his presentation, noting staff held nine stakeholder meetings with more than 20 local groups since March 2024.

Nut graf: The new schedule keeps a steep discount for resident youth nonprofits compared with nonresident and commercial users but drew concern from some council members and user groups over whether a sliding discount tied to higher residency thresholds should have been retained. Councilors also asked for clearer data on historic revenue and program impacts and for an implementation plan that allows for financial aid through the Wade Brummell scholarship and the city’s community grant process.

Most of the evening’s debate centered on equity and implementation. Several youth-sports leaders who participated in the stakeholder process told council they negotiated the proposal and could “live with” it. “We think we could live with this,” said Mike Warki, identified as president of Santa Clara Powell, after describing hours of negotiations between user groups and staff. Linda Pushpall, president of Santa Clara West Side Little League, asked the council to restore a proposed sliding scale that would further discount fees for groups with a higher proportion of Santa Clara residents: “I would urge you to add the sliding fee schedule back into this proposal,” she said.

Staff said the $8 starting rate for resident youth nonprofits is below the benchmarking average collected from eight nearby jurisdictions and that the proposed approach intentionally favors resident youth users to preserve local access. Sparacino told the council the city deliberately deferred separate charges for synthetic turf and field-lighting, saying those costs require additional analysis and stakeholder conversations because replacement of synthetic turf can run into the millions and lighting fees depend on amortized replacement and electricity costs.

City Manager Jevon Grogan and staff also noted that the council previously directed a temporary waiver of nonprofit fees while stakeholder discussions continued; the adopted package replaces that interim policy with the new rates and an implementation plan. Staff said the Wade Brummell scholarship fund and a refreshed community grant process will be available to help offset fees for qualifying participants; the community grant program offers awards up to $10,000 subject to availability.

The council took public comment from representatives of multiple local leagues and from Cesar, who said he represented AYSO, voicing concern the draft treated nonresident nonprofit youth groups as commercial users and would price them out of Santa Clara fields. City staff responded that the nonresident fees are intended to be market-based and to preserve low rates for resident nonprofits that use the majority of field time.

After discussion and amendments, the council approved the Parks and Recreation recommendation by roll call vote, 6–1 (Councilmember Park opposed). The resolution adopts the revised field-user categories and priorities and directs staff to include the field and turf fees in the Fiscal Year 2025–26 municipal fee schedule, with the fee changes effective July 1, 2025. Staff will return with synthetic-turf and lighting fee proposals and additional benchmarking before applying those surcharges.

Ending: Councilmembers and city staff said the policy will be monitored and can be adjusted if fees prove to be unaffordable for families or if scheduling tools, scholarship take-up, or field-rest practices change utilization. Several council members urged staff to follow up with more granular revenue and impact data when staff report back on the next phase.