Los Gatos weighs artificial turf vs. real grass for sports park

The Los Gatos Town Council authorized a landscape architecture firm to study using artificial turf or real grass to replace the turf in Creekside Sports Park.

The council unanimously approved the item at its Sept. 17 meeting after hearing from several members of the public who largely supported the study but urged the council to eventually opt for real grass to replace the turf in the park. Parks and public works director Nicole Burnham said at the meeting that councilmembers raised questions during their last discussion on the topic that a study like this could help answer.

“There were a lot of questions that came up, and we didn’t feel like we had a good way to guide you in that decision,” Burnham told the council. “And so the intent of this study is to help foster this exact conversation.”

The study comes as the debate between artificial turf and real grass plays out across the South Bay, though many cities have opted to stick to artificial turf for the time being. Sunnyvale recently postponed its decision on a policy that would ban artificial turf on city property to allow city staff to assess the pros and cons of artificial turf vs. real grass.

The turf at Creekside Sports Park is about 12 years old and “its condition is deteriorating,” according to a staff report. The estimated cost to replace it is about $1.2 million, the report reads.

The town of Los Gatos will contract with the landscape architecture firm Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. to conduct the study for $37,135. Burnham said the firm’s report will likely by presented to the council at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

Several members of the public encouraged the council to select real grass to replace the lawn in the park instead of artificial turf, and offered recommendations on the content that the study will cover, like the long-term costs of artificial turf and its the impact on public health.