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Recreation officials, festival organizers agree: no parking on Pine Lake Meadow for Stern Grove concerts
Summary
After community pressure, Recreation & Park staff and the Stern Grove Festival Association announced an immediate ban on parking on Pine Lake Meadow and a plan for alternative access, reserved handicap curb spaces, shuttle service and a bike-valet. Supervisors thanked organizers and urged continued monitoring of enforcement and maintenance.
San Francisco recreation officials and the Stern Grove Festival Association announced a unilateral decision to stop parking on Pine Lake Meadow for upcoming summer concerts and outlined an operational plan to move attendees without using the meadow for vehicle parking. The announcement came during a special meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee.
“we have … made a decision that there would be no parking on The Meadow, starting immediately,” said Steve Haines, executive director of the Stern Grove Festival Association. Haines said the festival and the Recreation & Park Department worked with city agencies and community groups to finalize the change and that the association will develop mass‑transit options, a free bike‑valet and other measures to reduce car traffic.
Agung Yadi, listed in the meeting as the Recreation & Park general manager, told the committee the department had coordinated with the Municipal Transportation Agency to reserve curb parking strictly for people with handicap permits along Sloat Boulevard and to provide shuttle service from the Nineteenth Avenue senior shuttle stop to the concert esplanade. Yadi confirmed the department’s understanding that MTA would deploy four additional parking control officers, a supervisor and a tow truck on festival Sundays to respond to driveway or life‑safety obstructions.
Multiple neighborhood speakers said the decision addressed long‑running complaints and asked the city to ensure ongoing maintenance of the meadow. Pat Skane of the Pine Lake Park Neighborhood Association called the committee’s intervention “a turning point for Pine Lake Park” and urged additional gardeners and custodial staff to sustain the improvements made to the meadow.
Chair Sean Ellsburn thanked community members, Festival Association staff and city departments for working together and said he wanted follow‑up reporting to the committee and the budget committee about operational costs and any enforcement problems over the season.
The committee closed public comment on the item and agreed, without objection, to file the hearing item after staff confirmed the operational staffing and enforcement steps. Officials also noted that the Recreation & Park proposed budget includes 15 new gardeners and 34 custodians overall; staff said reallocating custodial work will free gardeners to focus on horticultural maintenance.
Next steps: department staff said they will continue to coordinate shuttle, parking control and handicap access ahead of the concerts and the committee asked that the department provide a follow‑up update after the first weeks of the festival season.
