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Rec & Park defends court‑reservation fee after public outcry; committee continues hearing for outreach plan
Summary
After a pilot $4 per session reservation fee for badminton, Rec & Park said it will roll the court‑reservation fee out to basketball and volleyball in spring and improve scholarship outreach; supervisors and players criticized rollout and the committee continued the item to the chair for a detailed outreach and participation plan.
Supervisor Carmen Chu convened a hearing after constituent complaints about a new $4 per 45‑minute court‑reservation fee imposed first on badminton sessions. Denny Kern, director of operations for Recreation and Parks, said the department began with badminton to address inequitable bookings that left long waiting lists; the fee was intended both to manage demand and to create a reservation system that could be applied to other open‑court activities.
Kern acknowledged the department "regrets the way we rolled this thing out" and said the intention was to apply the same $4 per 45‑minute reservation to open‑court basketball and volleyball in the spring season beginning in April. He said a market survey showed neighboring jurisdictions charge $6 for comparable reserved court time and that San Francisco's rate remains below the local market.
The department described a scholarship program that functions like a debit card for eligible households; scholarship applications currently require documentation and are processed at McLaren Lodge, but staff said site‑level processing will be expanded as staffing permits. Kern also said the department will improve outreach before the spring registration period and monitor participation over two seasons; the park code includes a matrix that allows staff to recalibrate price points if participation falls off.
Participants and senior players told the committee the fee had emptied some regular sessions at neighborhood centers. Ed Leon, an 86‑year‑old long‑time player, said a petition with more than 200 signatures asked for the winter quarter to be made free because the fee had driven users away and left facilities idle.
The committee agreed to continue Item 6 to the call of the chair and asked Rec & Park to return with a specific outreach plan, site‑level scholarship access details and participation data to assess whether fees inhibit public use.
Next steps: Rec & Park to provide a written outreach plan, steps to make scholarship applications accessible at rec centers, and participation metrics for at least two seasons to allow recalibration of fees if necessary.
