It’s a (plastic) turf war at Crocker Amazon, and Chyanne Chen is caught in the middle

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The ballfields at Crocker Amazon Park, at the southernmost edge of McLaren Park, have seen better days.

Gopher holes and soggy turf routinely keep the diamonds closed for well over a month during the wet spring months. When, in 2025, San Francisco’s parks department announced a $45 million project to revamp the park — split 50/50 between the San Francisco Giants and the city’s 2020 Health and Recovery bond — officials expected gratitude. 

Instead, they got a fight. A group called Keep Crocker Real is pressuring local officials to vote down the renovation plan. 

Their beef: In the proposal, the new ballfields have synthetic turf instead of real grass. 

Among the officials in their crosshairs: The Rec and Park Commission, which will vote on  whether to greenlight the renovation plan in the coming months. The Board of Supervisors, which has final approval. Supervisor Chyanne Chen, whose district includes Crocker Amazon.  

Chen said her inbox is flooded with emails about the turf war. She’s routinely approached by people both in her district and citywide, passionately arguing their case. But she doesn’t have much, if any, control over the process. 

Representatives of the Recreation and Parks Department have not offered a version of the Crocker Amazon revamp that does not include synthetic turf, meaning that anyone who votes against the plan is not only voting down 20 acres of synthetic turf, but the entire rebuilding project.

Keep Crocker Real formed shortly after Rec and Parks released the plan. While some live in District 11, several of its key members hail from other districts — including Bob Hall (the Panhandle in District 5), Susan Mullaney (Inner Sunset in District 7) and Sophie Constantinou, (St. Mary’s Park, which borders District 11). 

Chen appreciates the investment that’s coming into the “forgotten” District 11, she said. Her daughter used to play games at Crocker Amazon’s soccer field, which was originally renovated with synthetic turf in 2008 and then upgraded with new turf in 2024.

At a recent Recreation and Park Commission meeting, five members of Keep Crocker Real showed up to urge them to vote down the plan. 

“We should not cover our earth with plastic,” said Mary Fecher, of Keep Crocker Real. “We have enough asphalt, cement and things like that. We’re in a climate crisis right now. San Francisco should not be a part of that climate crisis.”

Some local cities, such as Millbrae in San Mateo County, are attempting to ban artificial turf, but San Francisco is not one of them.

To make its case, Keep Crocker Real cites tests done by San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission on stormwater runoff from existing artificial turf at Garfield Square in the Mission District and South Sunset Playground.

Those tests found a chemical inventory washing off with every rain — including phthalates and heavy metals. A 2024 follow-up test at two other city turf fields found elevated levels of chromium, copper and zinc.

The testing did not make any comparisons to runoff from local natural-grass fields.

Rec and Parks has, so far, chosen to argue that not all fake grass is bad grass. At the Thursday meeting, the commission unanimously passed something called the Rec and Park Synthetic Turf Program Policy.

The non-binding policy sets recommendations for what types of synthetic turfs city departments should buy.

It discourages components like crumb rubber, which is made from used tires, and recommends independent chemical testing before each new turf installation and recycling old turf domestically rather than attempting to ship it overseas.

Keep Crocker Real disputes that all of the above are improvements, or even possible.

Currently, the city has and maintains 12 artificial turf fields, including some at Crocker Amazon.

Katherine Gillespie, the president of the San Francisco Little League and an Outer Sunset resident, spoke out at the meeting in favor of the turf, on the grounds that it was more important to get kids outside and playing ball than worrying about fake grass.

“It is critical for communities to promote policies and develop infrastructure that encourage sport and recreation,” Gillespie said. 

Catherine Dodd, a public health nurse and former deputy chief of staff to Mayor Gavin Newsom for Health and Human Services who dialed in for public comments, agreed that there is a need for “more physical activity for kids and to get them away from screens.” However, Dodd added, that doesn’t mean that artificial turf is an unalloyed good.  

“We don’t need to expose them to dangerous chemicals that have both short-term and long-term health effects,” Dodd said of the city’s baseball-playing children. “Please base it on science, not just on hours of play.”

When asked if she personally supported the turf, Chen hedged. She wants to “achieve an appropriate balance,” she said.

Chen, for her part, said that balance means hoping that Rec and Parks can be persuaded to have one of the five ballfields currently designed to be turf — the one on the north side — to be real grass instead.

“So that we can preserve nature,” Chen said. “But then at the same time, continue to maximize outdoor playtime for the community.”

Mullaney, who lives in District 7, and Hall, who lives in District 5, were less interested in negotiation. At the Thursday meeting, both floated the idea of voting Chen out.

“I don’t have enough experience to know, but I think if enough of the residents say, ‘Fuck you, we don’t want this’ or something similar,” said Mullaney, “We’d have to vote out Chyanne Chen … before her term ends.”

“It’s the Sunset Dunes kind of process,” Hall added. “Get rid of the supervisor.”

After publication, Mullaney and Hall confirmed that they were not pursuing a recall.

There is one key difference between Crocker Amazon and Sunset Dunes. Joel Engardio was recalled as District 4 supervisor for not only openly advocating for Sunset Dunes, but for signing it onto the ballot.

Chen, meanwhile, said she is “urging” Rec and Parks to listen to what the community has to say about the renovation proposal. 

“I really strongly urge the [Rec and Park] commissioners to ensure that community input is the foundation of any plan,” Chen said. “This is really important.”