Committee continues Dolores Park fine-and-glass-ban ordinance after debate over enforcement and equity

Supervisor Sheehy introduced legislation to amend the Park Code to allow an administrative penalty up to $1,000 per violation for littering or dumping waste in Dolores Park, prohibit glass beverage containers with certain exceptions in city parks and authorize park patrol to issue citations for park-code violations. She said the proposal aimed to protect children, pets and park workers from broken glass and to reduce the cleanup burden on park staff.

Dennis Kern, Director of Operations for San Francisco Recreation and Park, reviewed recent park renovation work and waste-management changes, including increased restroom and trash capacity after a 2016 renovation. Kern said the park—s Echo Pop-Up triple-sorting site had helped recycling and composting rates but that staff still found substantial litter and broken glass that poses safety hazards and sometimes required costly cleanups (for example, sand replacement in a playground after broken glass).

Supervisors pressed for data on past citations. Kern and other Rec & Park staff said they had not issued littering citations in recent months and believed that a lack of enforcement stemmed partly from the district attorney—s limited appetite to pursue misdemeanor littering cases; Rec & Park said it could collect and provide citation numbers. Supervisor Sheehy said the ordinance changes the citation process to resemble a parking-ticket model so enforcement does not depend on DA misdemeanor prosecution. Treasurer—s office staff (Amanda Confried) said the office is working on options to reduce disparate impacts on low-income residents, including community-service diversion and waivers for households at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

Public comment included both opposition and support: Jordan Davis and others cautioned that expanded citation authority could lead to disproportionate enforcement against marginalized groups and urged withdrawal, while business and neighborhood representatives (including Woods Beer Company and Dolores Park advocates) supported clearer enforcement and a streamlined citation process. After discussion and requests for enforcement-history data, Supervisor Sheehy moved to continue the item to Sept. 13 so staff can provide additional information; the continuation was adopted.