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City council considers investing $165,000 in sports master plan

By Linda Taaffe

San Jose could solve its sports fields shortage with some help from outside organizations.

Councilwoman Nancy Pyle has requested that the city manager authorize as much as $165,000 to hire an outside consultant to complete a community sports fields master plan that would look at ways the city could partner with local school and sports groups to utilize more city space for sports usage. The city council was scheduled to review the request Oct. 17.

According to a memorandum from Pyle, she is requesting that the report be completed by the end of 2006.

Her request comes a week after the San Jose Unified School District publicly rejected plans to lease or sell its McKean Road property in South San Jose to the city for use as sports fields.

Her plan calls for a consultant to identify new locations for sports fields throughout San Jose as well as ways to optimize use of existing fields. Pyle said Measure P money, approved by voters in 2000 for the development of community sports complexes, has not been used for this purpose. Pyle has called the shortage of sports fields in San Jose dire. Youth enrollment in soccer has increased 150 percent over the past four years, and other sports, such as lacrosse, are becoming more popular.

In her request, Pyle says sports groups have expressed interest in partnering with the city to help cover field maintenance costs in exchange for reserved use of the fields.