If you thought car-free JFK Drive was controversial, wait til you see the next dispute coming down the promenade, as free parking might soon be eliminated in Golden Gate Park to chip away at the city’s budget deficit.

Golden Gate Park is more than 1,000 square acres in size, and so it should not be surprising that the park is also home to more than 3,000 parking spaces. And most of them are free! But as the City of SF struggles with a massive budget deficit, the Chronicle reports that SF Rec and Parks Department officials are considering charging money to park in Golden Gate Park, potentially creating about $10 million a year that would help the department avoid making cuts to maintenance, custodial work, and summer camp youth programs.

“Our focus is making sure that we can protect our core services,” SF Rec and Parks Department director Phil Ginsburg told the Chronicle. “To do that, we need to better align the money we earn with the costs of what we deliver.”

This is not a final decision, it’s just one thing the department included on a list of recommended cuts or revenue increases that the park’s oversight commission agreed to send to Mayor Daniel Lurie. Other items on that list include a $5-an-hour fee for using tennis courts, or leasing out the city’s golf courses to private operators.

The proposed parking fee would be "up to" $3 an hour, according to the Chronicle. And some people on the Rec and Parks Commission are not happy with this idea at all.

“We already closed roads in Golden Gate Park,” Commissioner Larry Mazzola said at last week’s meeting. “And now we’re going to charge people. It just seems like we’re driving cars out. That’s not something I want to do.”

Mazzola was already pretty outspoken about hating the car-free Great Highway in his remarks when the commission named the new park last month. So he’s pretty sympathetic to the driver community, and his remark “We already closed roads in Golden Gate Park” refers to making JFK Drive car-free in 2022. This proposal might be as controversial as those car-free thoroughfare efforts, and there could be some more serious anger from the motorists of SF.  

Related: Big Eucalyptus Tree Comes Crashing Down On Cars In Golden Gate Park [SFist]

Image: SFMTA