By John Ferrannini

Advocates of restoring the status quo on the former Upper Great Highway are hailing a court victory that will allow a proposition to do so on the November ballot.

Judge Harold E. Kahn heard the case of Friends of Sunset Dunes, et al vs. John Arntz, San Francisco’s elections director, on Aug. 21 at the Civic Center San Francisco Superior Court. It alleged that this coming November’s Proposition G, which would undo 2024’s Proposition K, contained inaccurate information and would therefore mislead voters.

Specifically, the plaintiff alleged Prop. G misrepresented the compromise brokered by then District 4 Supervisor Gordon Mar, which from 2021 until the implementation of Prop. K, allowed cars on the Upper Great Highway from Monday at 6 a.m. to Friday at noon, excluding holidays. The measure’s legal text states it will restore that compromise, but tweaks the timing of the approach to start the closure Friday at 6 p.m. This, proponents say, is to allow use of the roadway by Friday commuters.

Prop. G qualified for the ballot in July after supporters turned in the requisite number of signatures early in the month.

Khan tossed the suit, siding with the defendant. For Albert Chow, a District 4 supervisorial candidate and small business owner who has long opposed efforts to permanently shut down the roadway, it was a sweet victory.

“We are trying to restore what was rightfully there, and have a compromise so everyone can have a piece of the pie,” Chow said, adding that Friends of Sunset Dunes President Lucas Lux has “taken the whole pie.”

Lux said that his organization will now take the fight to the voters – again.

“We respectfully disagree with the judge’s rationale, but we respect his ruling,” Lux said. “The takeaway for us is pretty clear: it’s up to the voters for the third time now to determine the fate of our coast, so our focus is on making sure voters understand the changes Prop. G puts before them. Do they want a coastal park, or to rip out a coastal park forever and have a road on the coast that closes a couple days a week, so you can walk on a closed road?”

The first of the three times was 2022’s Prop. I, which failed. Prop. I would have prevented the City from keeping the Upper Great Highway open for recreational purposes on weekends. Sunset Dunes Park opened April 12, 2025, following the citywide passage of Prop. K.

Lux stated that the existence of the park means that the compromise cannot be resurrected without destroying it.

“The Prop. G petition says the space is currently suitable for dual use,” Lux said. “You cannot have a roadway for private vehicles with a skate park on it. It’s simply not suitable and the City would have to destroy the park to make it suitable.”

Lux added that while emergency vehicles can use the road because one lane remains unobstructed, private vehicles can’t because one lane is now occupied by the skate park.

“Go to the skate park, and you’ll see one lane is fully opened and remained fully opened for emergency vehicles, with no physical obstruction, which is suitable for a firetruck to get through, and they do,” Lux said. “The rest of the space is taken up by a skate park.”

To Chow, “A skate park wasn’t even supposed to be there in the first place. Prop. K was to close the road,” Chow continued. “There was never a budget or a permit to do a park on the roadway. It was for bicyclists, joggers and pedestrians – not octopuses, phone booths, skate features, bicycle obstacle courses. So him saying, ‘You can’t take those down,’ they’re not supposed to be there in the first place.”

The text of Prop. K states it allows “the City to use the Upper Great Highway for public open recreation space, permanently closing it to private motor vehicles seven days a week, with limited exceptions. It would continue to allow emergency vehicles, official government vehicles, intra-park transit shuttle buses and similar authorized vehicles to access the Upper Great Highway at all times.”

Prop. K also states, “The Recreation and Parks Commission has jurisdiction over most public parks and other recreational facilities in San Francisco, including the Upper Great Highway. Under the Commission’s direction, the Recreation and Parks’ general manager oversees the use of those recreational facilities.”

Asked to respond to Chow, Lux stated, “In 2024, voters passed Prop. K to replace a coastal road with an oceanfront park. The City’s initial upgrades – following the same processes used to improve all city parks – have already doubled daily attendance, proving that people prefer a park with park features over a closed road.”

Lux said that “Yes on G” is “trying to sell you this fiction that you can have a coastal park and a road at the same time.”

For his part, Chow said he’s surprised the issue has such legs.

“I’m amazed at how much life this particular issue has, even though I’m one of the guys deep in the fight,” he said. “I don’t agree with Lux, but I’m not going to fault him for trying.”

Now, it’s up to the voters to decide on Nov. 3.