Sunnyvale postpones decision on artificial turf ban

In a controversial move, Sunnyvale will continue to allow future facilities to have artificial turf fields — for now.

The City Council has postponed adopting a policy that bans artificial turf on city property until staff studies the benefits and disadvantages associated with both turf and natural grass — an issue that has long divided residents in the city.

While the delay disappointed those who want artificial turf immediately banned, some councilmembers said more time was needed to ensure the right decision is made.

In response to the concerns from residents on the negative environmental and heath impacts of turf, the council in February asked staff to create the turf policy. That same month, the council approved the creation of a study that will analyze the benefits and challenges on the use of turf on public properties, like athletic fields, and private ones including residential and commercial landscapes. A completion date for the study has not been set yet.

If the policy had been approved Tuesday, the council would have still revisited the decision upon the study’s completion.

Councilmember Omar Torres said Sunnyvale doesn’t have any immediate turf projects for the policy to take effect. The District 3 representative said the council should allow city staff to undergo the study and present its studies before voting.

“We don’t have any projects in the pipeline right now,” Torres said at Tuesday’s Sunnyvale City Council meeting. “So we do have the time to do our due diligence to make that decision and make it right.”

While Councilmember Richard Mehlinger said he agrees with waiting for the study, he voiced his opposition to using turf in general.

“Installing artificial turf amounts to sterilizing land,” the District 5 representative said during the meeting. “It amounts to killing open space dead and that alone is reason enough, in my opinion, to oppose it.”

The potential ban drew both criticism and support Tuesday from many community members, who showed up in droves to speak on the issue.

High schooler Andrae Wan said he enjoys playing on natural grass and wants the ban to be passed. Artificial turf during the summer can also get “super hot,” and he can’t lay a hand on the field for a few seconds without feeling pain.

“My goal in going outside is to play on the fields and reconnect with nature on real oxygen-producing grass,” Wan said during the meeting.

But Sunnyvale resident Krisine Fry said turf fields are safer to use. As a former soccer mom, she attended all of her son’s games with a medical kit on hand and noticed twice the number of injuries when they played on grass fields. Fry said the city does not have the resources to maintain safe grass fields.

“There is no technology that will make grass fields safer than turf fields, without maintenance two to three times a week which will require hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars worth of personnel to maintain.”

Synthetic turf has come under fire as it can contain hazardous micro-plastics and chemicals like PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” that can leech into food chains, contaminate water supplies among other things, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Gov. Gavin Newsom last year even signed a law allowing cities and counties to ban synthetic lawns over health concerns.

But there are practical benefits to installing turf. Sunnyvale chose to use artificial turf instead of natural grass at several parks in an effort to reduce field maintenance costs, conserve and save money on water and eliminate the use of other chemicals like pesticide and weed killers, according to city documents.

The council also has a 20-year financial plan that takes into account water usage and field maintenance funds the city would save with turf. For instance, $6.8 million in funding over the 20 year span is available for the replacement of turf fields, but wouldn’t be “sufficient to convert and maintain natural grass fields,” the city states.

The turf fields are in North Sunnyvale parks including Fair Oaks Park, the playgrounds at the Magical Bridge All-inclusive Playground and Muwekma Park, Orchard Gardens Park and the cricket pitch at Ortega Park in the southern part of the city. More turf is slated to for  Ortega and at Murphy Park in North Sunnyvale, but not until 2032. There is another city plan in the works to convert existing sports field to synthetic/artificial turf beginning in 2029.

The Sunnyvale City Council isn’t the only governing body considering turf bans. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors at their Tuesday meeting voted to defer the decision to ban synthetic grass in the county until January 2025.