Editor:

We are opposed to holding the post-Outside Lands (OSL) concert in Golden Gate Park (GGP).  The post-OSL concert may be fun for the privileged few who can afford the tickets, but for the residents of the Sunset and Richmond Districts, the neighbors of GGP, it’s no fun at all. 

Another week of noise, blocked roads, traffIc, litter and disruption is added to the five weeks Another Planet Entertainment (APE) is already occupying our neighborhood.

APE has not told us the truth.  Rec. and Park has not told us the truth. They claim that OSL is only for two weeks. On July 14, fully one month before the beginning of OSL, they were already working in the area of the Polo Field, turning GGP into a construction zone.

On July 14th, Kay, a teacher who lives in the Sunset reported: “It’s the incessant beeping of the heavy equipment that pollutes the park’s environment. I’m usually in the park twice a day during the summer: first, for a run, and later, for a walk with my aging dog. The beeping is pretty much non-stop.”

July 14 to Aug. 13 is four weeks; add another week for the proposed concert and another week before OSL is fully out of the Park. That’s six weeks APE is proposing to appropriate our Park.

APE Executive Vice-President Allen Scott, said of OSL “… we know it’s a disruption. We hope that people see it for the greater good and not just about their personal routines.”  

Are the personal routines of people in the Marina, Pacific Heights, Seacliff, Forrest Hill, St. Francis Wood or Presidio Heights, being disrupted?  Why should the Sunset and Richmond be faced with traffic congestion, noise and disruption every year?  Why not have the post-OSL concert on the Marina Green, Crissy Field or in McLaren Park and give those parts of the city a chance to contribute to the greater good?

GGP belongs to the residents of San Francisco and should always be accessible, open and free. It was designed to be, and always has been, a public park. Keeping our parks open should be the first priority of Rec. and Park. Why should we award APE a permit for a post-OSL concert when they have not been honest and have failed to abide by the terms they agreed to for OSL?

“Permittee shall promptly, at its sole cost and expense, repair any and all damage to the Premise” – Use Permit for Outside Lands, dated April 1, 2009.

“… to conserve resources over the remaining term of the Permit and to prevent future damage and delays, Permittee has offered to complete a project valued at approximately $400,000 to replace the far western turf areas of the Polo fields with decomposed granite and … reinforced concrete.” – Addendum to the Original Permit, dated May 20, 2022

What could be more damaging to a grass field than pouring concrete on it?  It is clear that Outside Lands damages Golden Gate Park and APE has not honored its agreement to repair any damage to the Park.  Now, people can tell their children and grandchildren, the Polo Field was passed down for generations as a beautiful meadow and playing field and we now bequeath you this massive slab of concrete as part of it.

APE has reneged on its agreement and violated both the spirit and the letter of its contract with the City and should not be trusted with a post-OSL concert.

David Romano and Judy Pell