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The provisions of this Article shall not apply to any person employed by the City and County of San Francisco, the State of California, or the United States Government while in the discharge of authorized duties and while operating an official vehicle or any other vehicle with an appropriate permit displayed.
(Added by Ord. 603-81, App. 12/18/81)
New Legislation NoticePublisher's Note: This section has been AMENDED by new legislation (Proposition N, adopted 11/8/2022, effective 12/23/2023, operative date is conditional (See section 8 of the proposition)). The text of the section will be included below when the new legislation is effective.
(a) Findings and Purpose.
(1) Golden Gate Park was created more than 100 years ago to provide a sanctuary from the pressures of urban life. Golden Gate Park remains an irreplaceable resource of open space for visitors to and residents of San Francisco, especially those families for whom it is difficult to travel out of the City for recreation.
(2) For more than 30 years, Sunday and holiday closure to motor vehicles of a portion of John F. Kennedy Drive (“JFK Drive”), approximately 1.5 miles in length, between Kezar Drive and Transverse Drive, and closure of portions of adjacent roads connecting with that portion of JFK Drive, has been one of the most popular attractions in Golden Gate Park, attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year from every neighborhood, racial/ethnic group, age category, and income level.
(3) Proposition J, the Golden Gate Park Revitalization Act of 1998, adopted by San Francisco voters on June 2, 1998, has as one of its primary purposes to take steps to reduce the impact of automobiles in Golden Gate Park while still providing long-term assurance of safe, reliable, and convenient access for visitors to the Park. This goal remains of paramount importance in ensuring that Golden Gate Park is scenically beautiful, environmentally sensitive, culturally diverse, and accessible to all.
(4) Concerns about ensuring automobile access to the cultural institutions in the Golden Gate Park Concourse area, including the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum and the California Academy of Sciences (“CAS”), have been addressed by the construction of an underground parking garage in the Concourse area pursuant to the aforementioned Proposition J.
(5) In 2007, with the enactment of Ordinance No. 271-07, the City extended this program of Sunday road closures to also cover Saturdays, to provide more opportunities for the public to engage in recreation and due to the need to ensure the safety and protection of persons who would use these roads during the closures.
(6) In 2022, following the temporary closure of portions of JFK Drive and other connecting streets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and on recommendation of the Recreation and Park Commission and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors, the Board of Supervisors by Ordinance No. 74-22 adopted the Golden Gate Park Access and Safety Program, and approved the road closures described therein and replicated in this Section 6.12, finding that it would be appropriate to permanently restrict private vehicles from portions of JFK Drive and certain other street segments in Golden Gate Park, due to the need to ensure the safety and protection of persons who are to use those streets, and because those streets are no longer needed for private vehicle traffic, and because the restrictions would leave a sufficient portion of the streets in the surrounding area for other public uses including vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic.
(b) Restrictions on Private Vehicles. The Recreation and Park Department is authorized to restrict private vehicles from the following streets in Golden Gate Park: JFK Drive, between Kezar Drive and Transverse Drive; Conservatory Drive East, between Arguello Boulevard and JFK Drive; Pompeii Circle, entire length of street; Conservatory Drive West, between JFK Drive and 500 feet northeast of JFK Drive; 8th Avenue, between Fulton Street and JFK Drive; Music Concourse Drive, between JFK Drive and Bowl Drive; Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, between JFK Drive and Bowl Drive; Stow Lake Drive, between JFK Drive and Stow Lake Drive East; Middle Drive West, between Overlook Drive and a gate 200 feet west of Overlook Drive; Middle Drive West, between Metson Road and a gate 675 feet east of Metson Road; Bernice Rodgers Way, between JFK Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (“MLK Drive”); and MLK Drive, between Lincoln Way and Chain of Lakes Road. The Recreation and Park Department is also authorized to convert MLK Drive from Chain of Lakes Drive to Sunset Boulevard from two-way traffic to one-way traffic in the eastbound direction; and Middle Drive West from Metson Road to MLK Drive from two-way traffic to one-way traffic in the westbound direction. There is hereby established a protected two-way bicycle lane (Class IV) on the east side of Transverse Drive from JFK Drive to Overlook Drive, and a one-way westbound bicycle lane (Class II) on the north side of MLK Drive between Middle Drive and Sunset Boulevard. A map depicting these street closures and traffic restrictions is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. 220261, the file for Ordinance No. 74-22, and is incorporated herein by reference.
(c) The Recreation and Park Department shall include on its website a map depicting the streets subject to the street closures and traffic restrictions authorized in subsection (b), and such other information as it may deem appropriate to assist the public; and shall provide advance notice of any changes to these street closures or traffic restrictions to residents and owners of property abutting those streets.
(d) The voters urge the Recreation and Park Department to pursue the remaining aspects of the Golden Gate Park Access and Safety Program, including but not limited to the associated parking, loading, and traffic modifications, improved shuttle service, paratransit van service, accessible parking spots, delivery access for the DeYoung Museum, and bicycle connectivity, and authorizes the Recreation and Park Department to implement the Program with adjustments as it deems necessary.
(e) Disability Access Standards. The following disability access standards shall apply to the closures of JFK Drive and related roads as set forth in subsection (b).
(1) Disability access to Golden Gate Park shall comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Golden Gate Park Revitalization Act of 1998.
(2) All vehicular access points to the areas of closure shall contain directional signage that describes all access points and accessible surface parking areas for people with disabilities and provides directions to the underground parking facility in the Music Concourse. Signage also shall include telephone and TTY/TDD contact numbers where callers can obtain information on disability access.
(3) The Recreation and Park Department, in consultation with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park Concourse Authority, and Mayor’s Office on Disability, shall maintain at least the following disability access measures:
(A) A total of at least 92 accessible parking spaces east of Transverse Drive, of which 20 spaces shall be in the Bandshell parking lot.
(B) Assigned passenger loading zones for people with disabilities and others, in the Music Concourse in front of the California Academy of Sciences and the de Young Museum.
(C) An authorized intra-park transit shuttle that is accessible and operates frequently on the closed sections of JFK Drive, additional accessible parking spaces, and additional signed drop-off zones for people with disabilities outside of the area of closure.
(f) Exempt Motor Vehicles. The following motor vehicles are exempt from the restrictions in subsection (b):
(1) Emergency vehicles, including but not limited to police and fire vehicles.
(2) Official City, State, or federal vehicles, or any other authorized vehicle, being used to perform official City, State, or federal business pertaining to Golden Gate Park or any property or facility therein, including but not limited to public transit vehicles, vehicles of the Recreation and Park Department, and construction vehicles authorized by the Recreation and Park Department.
(3) Authorized intra-park transit shuttle buses, paratransit vans, or similar authorized vehicles used to transport persons within Golden Gate Park.
(4) Vehicles authorized by the Recreation and Park Department in connection with permitted events.
(5) Vehicle deliveries to the de Young Museum loading dock. Such vehicles shall have unimpeded access to the Museum’s loading dock from John F. Kennedy Drive through the road closure area. The de Young Museum may use the existing closure protocols to provide for unencumbered delivery access to its loading dock and maintain safety of individuals within the road closure area. The Museum and the Recreation and Park Department shall evaluate such protocols and delivery activities on a regular basis to ensure that adequate delivery access and public safety are maintained, and if necessary, shall institute additional or modified methods that ensure adequate delivery access to the Museum and public safety.
(g) Emergency Authority. The General Manager of the Recreation and Park Department shall have the authority to allow traffic on roads that would otherwise be closed in accordance with this Section 6.12 in circumstances which in the General Manager’s judgment constitute an emergency such that the benefit to the public from the street closure is outweighed by the traffic burden or public safety hazard created by the emergency circumstances.
(h) Promotion of the General Welfare. In enacting and implementing this Section 6.12, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(i) Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Section 6.12 or any application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of Section 6.12. The voters hereby declare they would have passed this Section 6.12 and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and word not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portions of Section 6.12 or application thereof would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(j) Amendment. The Board of Supervisors may by ordinance amend or repeal this Section 6.12 by a majority vote.
(Added by Ord. 229-06, File No. 060701, App. 9/14/2006; amended by Ord. 74-22, File No. 220261, App. 5/7/2022, Eff. 6/7/2022; Proposition J, 11/3/2022, Eff. 12/23/2022)
New Legislation NoticePublisher's Note: This section has been AMENDED by new legislation (Proposition K, adopted 11/5/2024, effective 12/20/2024, operative conditional). The text of the section will be included below when the new legislation is operative.
(a) Findings and Purpose. In 2022, following the temporary closure of the Great Highway between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard (hereafter, the “Upper Great Highway”) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and on recommendation of the Recreation and Park Commission and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (“SFMTA”) Board of Directors, the Board of Supervisors found that it would be appropriate to restrict private vehicles from the four-lane limited-access Upper Great Highway at certain times, as described herein, due to the need to ensure the safety and protection of persons who are to use those streets; and because the restrictions would leave a sufficient portion of the streets in the surrounding area for other public uses including vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic.
(b) Restrictions on Private Vehicles. The Recreation and Park Department shall restrict private vehicles from the Upper Great Highway from Fridays at 12:00 p.m. until Monday mornings at 6:00 a.m., and on holidays, as set forth herein. These closures shall remain in effect until December 31, 2025, unless extended by ordinance. The temporary closure of the Upper Great Highway due to the COVID-19 pandemic from April 2020 until the commencement of the pilot project is hereby ratified.
(c) Public Notice and Engagement.
(1) The Recreation and Park Department shall include on its website a map depicting the street segments subject to the street closures and traffic restrictions authorized in subsection (b), and such other information as it may deem appropriate to assist the public; and shall provide advance notice of any changes to these street closures or traffic restrictions to residents and owners of property abutting those streets.
(2) The Recreation and Park Department and SFMTA shall collect and publicly report data on pedestrian and cyclist usage and vehicular traffic on the Upper Great Highway and surrounding streets at regular intervals throughout the duration of the pilot program established in this Section 6.13.
(3) SFMTA shall develop and release draft recommendations for traffic management no later than July 31, 2023. The draft recommendations shall build upon past traffic management measures and past traffic studies, and shall be updated during the pilot program based on data monitoring, traffic conditions, and community outreach. SFMTA shall also develop final recommendations which may propose traffic management measures for after the pilot period, with a description of potential improvements to the surrounding circulation system, cost estimates, and an implementation schedule for accommodating any future vehicular traffic restrictions that may be in the public interest.
(4) The Recreation and Park Department, in coordination with SFMTA, shall engage in community outreach during the pilot period to gain public input on the effectiveness of the pilot program and inform the development of the Westside Traffic Management Plan.
(5) Public Works or its successor agency shall develop an Upper Great Highway Sand Management Plan by no later than March 1, 2023. This plan shall detail how Public Works will manage and maintain an Upper Great Highway free of sand incursions, along with any resource or policy changes needed to accomplish this.
(d) Exempt Motor Vehicles. The following motor vehicles are exempt from the restrictions in subsection (b):
(1) Emergency vehicles, including but not limited to police and fire vehicles.
(2) Official City, State, or federal vehicles, or any other authorized vehicle, being used to perform official City, State, or federal business pertaining to the Upper Great Highway or any property or facility therein, including but not limited to public transit vehicles, vehicles of the Recreation and Park Department, and construction vehicles authorized by the Recreation and Park Department.
(3) Authorized intra-park transit shuttle buses, paratransit vans, or similar authorized vehicles used to transport persons along the Upper Great Highway.
(4) Vehicles authorized by the Recreation and Park Department in connection with permitted events and activities.
(e) Emergency Authority. The General Manager of the Recreation and Park Department shall have the authority to allow vehicular traffic on segments of the Upper Great Highway that would otherwise be closed to vehicles in accordance with this Section 6.13
in circumstances which in the General Manager’s judgment constitute an emergency such that the benefit to the public from the vehicular street closure is outweighed by the traffic burden or public safety hazard created by the emergency circumstances.
(f) Promotion of the General Welfare. In enacting and implementing this Section 6.13
, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(g) Severability. If any subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Section 6.13
or any application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of Section 6.13
. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares it would have passed this Section and each and every subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and word not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portions of Section 6.13
or application thereof would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(h) Sunset Clause. This Section 6.13
, and the temporary closures of the Upper Great Highway authorized herein, shall expire by operation of law on December 31, 2025, unless extended by ordinance. If not extended by ordinance, upon expiration the City Attorney is authorized to remove this Section 6.13
from the Code.
(Added by Ord. 258-22, File No. 220875, App. 12/22/2022, Eff. 1/22/2023)
(Former Sec. 6.13 added by Ord. 98-07, File No. 070269, App. 5/4/2007; Ord. 271-07, File No. 070489, App. 11/26/2007; repealed by Ord. 74-22, File No. 220261, App. 5/7/2022, Eff. 6/7/2022)
(a) Findings and Purpose. In 2020, the Recreation and Park Department restricted private vehicles from certain portions of John F. Shelley Drive in McLaren Park due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on this experience, the Board of Supervisors finds that it is appropriate to permanently restrict private vehicles from John F. Shelley Drive, between the Upper Reservoir Parking Lot and Mansell Street, because the street is no longer needed for private vehicle traffic; because of the need to ensure the safety and protection of persons who are to use the street; and because the restrictions would leave a sufficient portion of the streets in the surrounding area for other public uses including vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic.
(b) Restrictions on Private Vehicles. The Recreation and Park Department shall restrict private vehicles from John F. Shelley Drive, between the Upper Reservoir Parking Lot and Mansell Street. The temporary closure of John F. Shelley Drive due to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in April 2020 is hereby ratified.
(c) Public Notice and Engagement. The Recreation and Park Department shall include on its website a map depicting the street segment subject to the street closure and traffic restriction authorized in subsection (b), and such other information as it may deem appropriate to assist the public.
(d) Exempt Motor Vehicles. The following motor vehicles are exempt from the restriction in subsection (b):
(1) Emergency vehicles, including but not limited to police and fire vehicles.
(2) Official City, State, or federal vehicles, or any other authorized vehicle, being used to perform official City, State, or federal business pertaining to McLaren Park or any property or facility therein, including but not limited to public transit vehicles, vehicles of the Recreation and Park Department, and construction vehicles authorized by the Recreation and Park Department.
(3) Authorized intra-park transit shuttle buses or similar authorized vehicles used to transport persons along the restricted segment of John F. Shelley Drive.
(4) Vehicles authorized by the Recreation and Park Department in connection with permitted events and activities.
(e) Emergency Authority. The General Manager of the Recreation and Park Department shall have the authority to allow vehicular traffic on street segments that would otherwise be closed to vehicles under this Section 6.13.1 in circumstances which in the General Manager’s judgment constitute an emergency such that the benefit to the public from the vehicular street closure is outweighed by the traffic burden or public safety hazard created by the emergency circumstances.
(f) Promotion of the General Welfare. In enacting and implementing this Section 6.13.1, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(g) Severability. If any subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Section 6.13.1 or any application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of Section 6.13.1. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares it would have passed this Section and each and every subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and word not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portions of Section 6.13.1 or application thereof would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(Added by Ord. 222-23, File No. 230853, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023)
(a) The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is authorized, in conformance with Charter Article VIIIA, to work with Recreation and Park Department staff to:
(1) Identify locations suitable for the establishment of paid parking areas or zones on property under the jurisdiction of the Recreation and Park Commission, including, but not limited to, the use of pay stations and parking permits;
(2) Set rates for paid parking on park property that are closely comparable to the rates set for similarly situated paid parking;
(3) Develop and implement a parking management plan for park property.
(b) The implementation of any parking restrictions, parking rates and/or parking management plan by the SFMTA under this section shall be subject to the approval of the Commission; the location of paid parking areas and parking restrictions are subject to the approval of the Board of Supervisors.
(c) The Commission shall retain authority to grant or deny permits for the use or closure of park roads in conformance with S.F. Municipal Code and Commission policies.
(Added by Ord. 178-09, File No. 090716, App. 7/27/2009)
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