Palo Alto Council orders ad hoc, pilot study and near‑term planning after turf study debate

The Palo Alto City Council on Nov. 17 directed staff to form a short ad hoc and pursue a trial program to test higher‑performance natural grass as it continues planning a near‑term replacement of the synthetic field at El Camino Park.

The action followed a presentation by city parks staff and consultants from Lloyd Consulting, who described tradeoffs among natural soil fields, sand‑based performance turf, hybrid systems and synthetic turf, and summarized a lifecycle cost analysis and health/environmental considerations. Consultant Anthony Stevenson said the study found synthetic turf provides the highest year‑round carrying capacity — the ability of a field to support play without rapid degradation — while sand‑based and hybrid natural systems can increase playability compared with native soil grass but require more maintenance and sometimes more capital investment.

Why it mattered: El Camino currently supports exceptionally high use (the consultant cited roughly 2,700 hours per year), and replacing it with native soil grass would reduce capacity and likely force reductions in winter programming or shifts of teams to other fields. Parks staff estimated replacing El Camino with a high‑performance natural installation could cost about $1.5–$2.0 million and take as long as 18 months; a synthetic replacement was estimated in the $1.0–$1.4 million range and could be completed in roughly six months if procured promptly.

Public concerns vs. operational needs: Dozens of residents urged the council to prioritize health and environmental risks — especially microplastics, PFAS and surface‑heat impacts — and to implement a natural‑grass pilot before committing to another decade of synthetic turf. “Please add natural grass pilot to the recommendations,” the Sierra Club’s Susan Hinton said during public comment. Youth and sports‑organization representatives urged caution about cutting field hours, saying turf is essential during winter months to meet current demand; Rodrigo, executive director of local soccer organizations, said the club uses turf fields daily during peak hours and asked council to approve staffing and field access that preserve youth programming.

On PFAS testing and mitigation: The consultant and staff told the council there is no single industry standard for PFAS thresholds, so the city is relying on independent laboratory testing and peer review to verify manufacturer claims and is including risk‑mitigation measures (RMMs) — such as stormwater filters, improved grooming procedures and non‑plastic infill — in recommendations. Parks staff confirmed that the turf installation at Mayfield is undergoing independent lab testing with peer review; they said procurement for El Camino will incorporate testing and contract terms designed to enforce any PFAS limits the council sets.

Council vote and direction: After an extended exchange and competing motions, councilors voted unanimously to direct staff to proceed on a dual path: continue procurement planning for El Camino while creating a short ad hoc committee and a GRAS pilot (council members asked staff to include Cubberley among possible pilot sites). Councilmembers asked the ad hoc and staff to refine PFAS thresholds, include RMMs in design, and return with more detailed specifications and recommendations within about four weeks so the council can act at its December meeting.

What’s next: Staff will draft procurement language that includes independent PFAS testing and acceptability criteria, develop a scope for the GRAS pilot (site options discussed included Greer, Cubberley and Coverley), and report back to council with the ad hoc’s recommendations. The city will continue independent testing for the Mayfield installation and said it would pursue recycling/repurposing options where feasible; staff estimated current disposal recycling costs at roughly $1 per square foot for removed synthetic turf.