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Commission updates McKechnie Green field-use rules; forwards changes to town council
Summary
The Parks, Open Space & Trails Commission voted to approve revised field-use language clarifying shared use, fees, sport-in-season priority and an appeal process; the commission will forward the updated policy to the Town Council for final action.
The Parks, Open Space & Trails Commission on Feb. 19 approved a set of changes to the McKechnie Green field-use policy meant to clarify how youth soccer and lacrosse share the town’s only regulation field and to reduce recurring scheduling conflicts.
The commission’s revisions make explicit that multiple organizations may use the field at the same time, require organizations to pay the published fee regardless of how much of an allotted block they use, and codify a sport-in-season priority (soccer in fall, lacrosse in spring) when two equal-priority groups request overlapping times. The commission also directed that “consideration will be given for maximizing the time the field is used” as part of the town manager’s decision-making when conflicts arise.
Why it matters: McKechnie Green is a limited, high-demand facility and commissioners said clearer rules should reduce last-minute disputes and improve predictability for families. Commission members and representatives of local soccer and lacrosse leagues had met with a subcommittee over several months to draft the revisions.
Most of the debate focused on a new enforcement clause that would allow the town manager to revoke a group’s “sport-in-season” priority if the organization was found to be repeatedly and systematically misusing its scheduled time. Representatives of youth lacrosse told the commission that the wording felt vague and could penalize volunteer coaches for unavoidable delays; they asked for more concrete guidance defining “repeated” or “systematic” failures to follow time commitments. Commissioners responded by agreeing to remove the more prescriptive time-block language proposed earlier and instead to insert the “maximize use” consideration into the town manager’s discretion. That change was adopted by the commission before the final vote.
Public comment: Several parents and volunteer coaches urged flexibility for younger age groups, noting that kindergarten- and first-grade practices are shorter and that afternoon traffic can make a strict 3:30 p.m. start impractical. Southern Marin Lacrosse and other speakers said they supported most of the changes but asked for clearer, measurable criteria before an organization could lose sport-in-season status.
What the vote did: The commission approved the redlined policy with the edits described above and voted to forward the policy to the Town Council for consideration and adoption. The commission also asked staff to memorialize the final wording and bring the item to the next available council agenda.
Next steps: The commission’s approval is a recommendation; Town Council must adopt the revised policy for it to take effect. The commission instructed staff to create an online closure/status page for the field so families can see closures in real time and to track implementation questions raised at the meeting.
