REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Adopt Updated Definitions for Field User Categories and Field User Priorities of Use and Adopt a Resolution Incorporating the Updated Recreation Fields and Turf Areas Reservations: Practice & Games Fees into the Proposed FY 2025/26 Municipal Fee Schedule.
Report
COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Deliver and Enhance High-Quality, Efficient Services and Infrastructure
Enhance Community Sports, Recreational, and Arts Assets
Enhance Community Engagement and Transparency
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clara has a history of supporting youth sports organizations with sports practice and competition facilities. Historically, sports fields had been opened, closed, staffed, and maintained for youth sports use at no charge. Youth sports organizations have always been required to meet City-specified criteria to receive access to the fields. As the community has grown and the demand for sports fields has increased, the City has had difficulty meeting the demand for field space for all users in the City. The “free service” model widened the gap between the City’s General Fund and the operational cost recovery for utilities, equipment, labor, and maintenance. Although the City places a high community value on youth sports, the need to recover operating costs and plan for long-term capital improvements has become necessary in order to continue to deliver high-quality facilities and services for the community.
In 2021, the City Council directed staff to conduct a Parks and Recreation Fee and Cost Recovery Study. The study included an extensive community engagement process and resulted in the Cost Recovery Policy adopted by the City Council on April 19, 2022 (RTC 22-99, Attachment 1). Based on the Cost Recovery Policy, the new fees were then adopted as part of the FY 2022/23 Municipal Fee Schedule. The City began charging youth sports organizations for field use permits in Fall 2022 under the Municipal Fee Schedule category “Recreation/Fields and Turf Areas Reservations: Practice & Games.”
In March 2024, staff began meeting with youth sports user groups (Groups) to discuss the status of Santa Clara youth sports in general, as well as the City’s field allocation priority process. Staff sought an opportunity to build relationships through a series of in-person meetings and discussed the following topics: safety for participants, effective use of Wade Brummal Scholarship funds, permitting process, aging infrastructure, and facility conditions.
During the public hearing on the Proposed FY 2023/24 Municipal Fee Schedule on April 18, 2023 (RTC 23-141), the City Council expressed concerns about the fees for sports leagues. As a result, a referral was made to have staff meet with the sports groups to further discuss the cost recovery policy and fee schedule.
As part of the FY 2024/25 Municipal Fee Schedule Public Hearing on April 23, 2024, the City Council considered whether to waive fees for non-profit sports groups. The Council initially took action to waive fees for non-profit sports groups but ultimately reconsidered the action and directed staff to examine the Wade Brummal Scholarship Program Guidelines and explore the feasibility of fee waivers for non-profit youth sports groups.
On June 4, 2024, a reconsideration in accordance with Council Policy 42 (RTC 24-508, Attachment 2) of the actions taken on April 23, 2024, regarding the proposed FY 2024/25 fees for non-profit youth sports field use was brought forward to City Council. City Council took action to waive all Fall 2024 non-profit youth field usage fees and directed staff to return with an analysis after a stakeholder meeting. The field reservation use fees (grass and synthetic) were subsequently suspended for non-profit youth sports groups. In addition, consistent with Council direction, staff further evaluated field use fees and met with the youth sports groups and other stakeholders.
More than 20 groups, members of the public, and the Parks & Recreation Commission were invited to participate in the ongoing meetings/discussions related to youth sports in Santa Clara. In total, there were nine hybrid (in-person with Zoom option) meetings held in March, July, October, November, and December of 2024, and January and February of 2025. The meeting invitation and participation list are included (Attachments 3 and 4) as part of this report. Several meetings were recorded and posted to the City’s website.
The Youth Sports User Groups and Community (Group) spent several meetings discussing youth sports groups categories, priorities, and definitions. Additionally, the Group provided feedback and supported updates to the Wade Brummal Scholarship Program, which was presented to the Parks & Recreation Commission in February 2025 and adopted by the City Council on March 10, 2025. Lastly, the Group reviewed benchmark data, prioritization of field allocations, category definitions, proposed fees for field user permits, and provided feedback to staff.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this item is to describe the community engagement process that took place and the feedback that City staff received that informed the proposed update to the Field User Categories, Field User Priorities of Use, and new Municipal Fees for Recreation Fields and Turf Areas Reservations: Practice & Games Fees for field use permits. During the Parks & Recreation Commission meeting on March 10, 2025, the Commission unanimously recommended that the Council adopt the presented Field User Categories, Priorities of Use, and relevant Recreation Fields and Turf Areas Reservations: Practice & Games Fees for the FY 2025/26 Municipal Fee Schedule.
In the process of meeting with the Group, the conversations and values discussed afforded the development of the following categories, priorities for field allocations, and definitions for review. The importance of the sports field use for City of Santa Clara residents and for the development of youth athletes was a recurring theme in the Group discussions. Those values informed the following proposed Field User Categories and Priorities of Use:
FIELD USER CATEGORIES & PRIORITIES OF USE
1. City Programs: City of Santa Clara scheduled programs and activities.
2. Resident Youth Non-Profit: Youth activity groups based in and serving the City of Santa Clara (51% City of Santa Clara residents required). Youth are described as 18 years and under. Proof of Santa Clara residency is required. Non-profit organizations with 51% or more membership of Santa Clara residents must provide a roster within seven working days of application, including the organization’s name, the player’s names/initials, addresses, school (if outside the city boundaries), and zip codes.
3. Resident Adult Non-Profit: Adult activity groups based in and serving the City of Santa Clara (51% City of Santa Clara residents required). Adults are described as 18 years or older. Proof of Santa Clara residency is required. Non-profit organizations with 51% or more membership of Santa Clara residents must provide a roster within seven working days of application, including the organization’s name, the player’s names/initials, addresses, school (if outside the city boundaries), and zip codes.
4. Resident: A “resident” is any player/athlete who resides within the City of Santa Clara. Residency may be determined if attending a Santa Clara Unified School District school or a private school located in the City of Santa Clara. In addition, a utility bill, car registration, or bank statement may validate residency. This category is not intended for use for organized play. This category is to be used for personal play only.
5. Non-Resident: A "non-resident" is any player/athlete who does not reside within the geographic boundaries of the City of Santa Clara or attend one of the Santa Clara Unified School District schools or a private school located in the City of Santa Clara.
6. Commercial Entities: A “Commercial Entity” is any for-profit business, including but not limited to, a corporation and/or limited liability company. Commercial Entitles may reserve a field for film/photo purposes or for for-profit competitive sports leagues play. Commercial competitive sports entities may have paid coaches and may have paid sports staff.
The Field User Categories and Priorities of Use represent the value Santa Clara has placed on supporting youth sports. The list also adds a new category to differentiate non-profit sports groups that serve adults and further define the criteria that groups need to meet to fall into these priorities of use. With this suggested system, sports groups can be categorized, and fields can be allocated according to priorities.
During the meeting/discussion process, one of the groups proposed adding a new user group category to address non-resident non-profit youth sports groups; they suggested the new category be placed between the Resident and Non-Resident categories. Apart from the proposing group, there was a group from San Jose in favor of this new category. None of the other groups in attendance were in favor of adding a new user group category, citing two key reasons: 1) non-resident fees should be viewed as a cost recovery model for the City in an effort to maintain low/affordable fees for resident youth non-profit organizations, and 2) elevating the user group status will further impact the already difficult field use schedule/allocation for resident youth non-profit groups. Currently, the resident non-profit youth sports groups have limited access, as reservations for key sports fields are at capacity during prime time (Mon - Fri 3:30-10 p.m. and all day on Sat - Sun). Adding a new category with increased priority and lower fees would open the fields to non-resident sports organizations outside the City.
In addition to meeting with the Group to discuss Wade Brummal and the Categories and Priorities of Use, Staff discussed fees with the Group. The Group reviewed the benchmarking data results (Attachment 5) that staff had collected from agencies in Santa Clara County, with comparable facilities to Santa Clara. These benchmarking results were shared with the Group as early as December 2024. This data was also emailed to the attendee list in an effort to include those groups unable to attend the meetings/discussions.
Through the dialogue, the Group expressed interest and support for resident youth non-profit priority balanced with transparent, market-based, low-cost recovery rates; while supporting the City’s short and long-term operating, maintenance, and infrastructure needs. Based on benchmarking and feedback from the Group, the following field use fees are recommended for implementation in the FY 2025/26 Municipal Fee Schedule.
|
|
Field User Categories & Priorities for Use |
Current Field Rental Fee |
FY 2025/26 |
FY 2026/27 |
FY 2027/28 |
+ Lights FY 2027/28 |
+Synthetic Turf FY 2027/28 |
|
1. |
City Programs |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
2. |
Resident Youth Non-Profit |
$14 |
$8 |
$10 |
$10+CPI |
MR |
MR |
|
3. |
Resident Adult Non-Profit |
$14 |
$25 |
$30 |
$30+CPI |
MR |
MR |
|
4. |
Resident |
$100 |
$60 |
$60 |
$60+CPI |
MR |
MR |
|
5. |
Non-Resident |
$280 |
$280 |
$280+CPI |
2027+CPI |
MR |
MR |
|
6. |
Commercial |
$280 |
$280 |
$280+CPI |
2027+CPI |
MR |
MR |
In Staff’s review of the benchmarking and the review of infrastructure needs, Staff recommends adding a separate fee for use of synthetic fields and field lights in FY 2027/28. It is important that these fees be reviewed by the Group in fall/winter of FY 2026/27, as they will go into effect July 1, 2027, as part of the FY 2027/28 Municipal Fee Schedule adoption. These new fees may be based on market rate.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
With the discussion of the fees and the benchmarking, two groups suggested a sliding scale of 50% payment (citing the City of Campbell as an example) for resident youth non-profit organizations with 75% or more resident athlete enrollment. This would further discount the resident non-profit youth user rates, which will be at or below market rate and incrementally increase over time. Although this approach aligns with
the City’s values, using the City of Campbell as a sole example is difficult as they have less user groups and approximately three fields within their shared inventory. This would be a time and cost-prohibitive approach and counter the City’s ability to improve cost recovery relative to staffing and operations. An extensive process would be required to review and validate each league roster annually or per application period. Additionally, this approach would not close the gap between field use fees and the City’s ability to recover costs relative to utility, equipment, maintenance, and capital replacement expenses. Therefore, this approach is not proposed.
The fee for Commercial Entity use was discussed by the Group. The Group questioned if the fee was too high or being used. This fee is currently in the Municipal Fee Schedule and partially offsets the lower fees charged to the other user categories. The Commercial Entity use is typically actualized before 3 p.m. Monday - Friday and not allowed on weekends. Given this category is the lowest priority, it still allows for use by Commercial Entities but does not impact the high demand for sports fields by the other groups during weekday afternoons and weekends.
The City's Community Grant application and process was shared with the Group. The Community Grant standardized the City’s process to award grants to qualifying nonprofit community organizations, athletic groups or organizations, educational groups or organizations, or individuals, for events, activities, and competitions that provide a public benefit to the City of Santa Clara and its residents.
The City’s long time Santa Clara Championship Team Fund Program, which provides funding to Santa Clara teams and groups competing or participating in state, national or international competition or performance, is incorporated into the new Community Grants Program, in effect December 3, 2024. The Group were encouraged to apply for the Community Grant program as needs and qualifying events occur.
The Field User Group Categories and Priorities are presented to Council for final approval and adoption. The Fields and Turf Areas Reservations: Practice & Games Fees update resolution, if approved, will be incorporated into the 2025/26 Municipal Fee Schedule adoption (RTC 25-131) proposed for Council action following this item.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(4) in that it is a fiscal activity that does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potential significant impact on the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no direct impact on the City’s General Fund budget with the adoption of new user categories or priorities. One year of revenue ($114,695) was collected for non-profit field use prior to Council’s direction to pause fees. Assuming the same usage at the recommended $8 per hour, the estimated revenue in FY 2025/26 would be approximately $65,000. Adding a new category of adult non-profit users is expected to make up the gap in revenue. Implementation of field use facility fees will enhance the City’s ability to maintain and/or close the subsidy gap relative to staffing, maintenance and capital improvement expenses.
COORDINATION
This report has been coordinated with the City Manager’s Office, City Attorney’s Office, and Finance Department.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s website and in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to a Special Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (408) 615-2220, email clerk@santaclaraca.gov or at the public information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.
RECOMMENDATION
...Recommendation
1. Adopt Updated Definitions for Field User Categories and Field User Priorities of Use; and
2. Adopt a Resolution Incorporating the Updated Recreation Fields and Turf Areas Reservations: Practice & Games Fees into the Proposed FY 2025/26 Municipal Fee Schedule.
...Staff
Prepared by: Kimberly Castro, Recreation Manager
Reviewed by: Damon Sparacino, Parks & Recreation Director
Approved by: Jōvan Grogan, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. RTC 22-99
2. RTC 24-508
3. Youth Sports Organizations Meeting Invite List
4. Youth Sports Organizations Attendance 2024-25
5. Benchmarking Field Fees 2025
6. Draft Resolution