Protect Golden Gate Park – Demand Oversight

San Francisco Recreation & Park Commission, San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Golden Gate Park is San Francisco’s most treasured public commons — a place meant to be open and accessible to everyone. But in recent years, weeks-long closures for large, private concerts have shut residents out of their own park, strained neighborhood streets with traffic, hurt small businesses, and damaged the natural environment that makes the park so special.

San Franciscans deserve better. Before more massive, ticketed events are approved, the City must conduct a full, independent impact study to understand how these closures affect safety, access, local businesses, and the health of the park itself. By signing this petition, you’re calling on the Recreation and Parks Commission and the Board of Supervisors to put oversight and accountability first — and to protect Golden Gate Park for everyone who calls this city home.

To: San Francisco Recreation & Park Commission, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
From: [Your Name]

Golden Gate Park is one of San Francisco’s greatest public treasures — a space meant to be open, accessible, and welcoming to all. Yet in 2025 alone, large-scale, ticketed concerts like Outside Lands and Dead & Co. have fenced off major portions of the park for weeks at a time, shutting out residents and disrupting neighborhoods.

We, the undersigned, call on the City of San Francisco to require a hearing on the impact of these large-scale events, specifically evaluating:
1. Traffic & Access – How road closures, parking restrictions, and increased congestion affect residents and limit access to other parts of the park and San Francisco.
2. Public Safety – How private concerts manage medical emergencies, crowding, and security, and whether public safety is being compromised.
3. Small Businesses – How local businesses are impacted by crowds, closures, and competition with corporate vendors inside the festivals.
4. Natural Environment – How repeated closures, high foot traffic, and concert infrastructure affect the park’s open space, trees, and habitat.

Additionally, we ask the Recreation and Park Department to provide a monthly event calendar for Commission approval — ensuring transparency, oversight, and community input before any large-scale events are added to Golden Gate Park.

Golden Gate Park was created as a public commons — not as a private concert venue. We urge you to safeguard our parks with transparency, accountability, and respect for the people of San Francisco.

Parks are for people, not for profit. Please protect Golden Gate Park for generations to come.