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Supervisors urge National Park Service to preserve Ocean Beach bonfires; accept amendments expanding city support
Summary
After lengthy public comment, the committee approved a resolution urging the National Park Service to avoid fee-based permits and to protect family bonfire access at Ocean Beach; the committee accepted amendments noting city funding for cleanup, low citation counts, and opposing a four-month winter closure.
The Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee voted to forward a resolution urging the National Park Service to adopt fair, accessible guidelines for beach bonfires at Ocean Beach and to avoid a fee-based permitting system that supervisors said would impose financial barriers to recreation.
Chair Eric Marr, sponsor of the resolution, said the city and community groups have long worked with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and that bonfires are a longstanding community tradition. Marr read three amendments: acknowledgement of city allocations of $50,000 in fiscal year 2014–15 and an additional $185,000 in fiscal year 2016 to support Rec and Park cleanup and outreach; a statement noting that from calendar 2013 through 02/2015 only 15 citations were issued by the National Park Service for illegal fires; and an express resolve urging NPS not to implement a fee-based permitting system to reserve fire rings because it would limit access.
Public comment ran for more than an hour. Andrea Buffa of Save Our Recreation, Jag Carrillo of Rec and Park (Ocean Beach program manager), Sasha Almeraney (Hayes Valley resident), Tom Price of Burners Without Borders, Sallie Stevens of SF Dawg and others urged supervisors to oppose the NPS proposal. Testimony cited community history, volunteer cleanup efforts, and alternatives to permits such as adding more fire pits and better signage. Tom Price noted past fundraising and an earlier campaign that produced 3,000 public comments against a ban; Jag Carrillo said Rec and Park activated more than 1,000 volunteers in the past fiscal year.
Supervisor David Campos moved to accept the amendments and move the resolution forward; the committee accepted the amendments and gave the item a positive recommendation without objection. Chair Marr said he will continue behind-the-scenes coordination with the NPS superintendent and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to narrow any seasonal "spare the air" restrictions that could go beyond peak particulate periods.
