City Council explores field upgrades, lighting, and new park plans as sports participation outpaces facility capacity
PASO ROBLES — Paso Robles city officials are taking steps to address the growing demand for youth sports fields following a steady rise in participation over the past five years. In response to capacity and maintenance concerns raised by local sports organizations, the City Council is directing staff to explore both short- and long-term solutions to improve access and quality of sports facilities.
Following the March 4 City Council meeting, Recreation Services gathered feedback from local sports field user groups to better understand concerns about access, field conditions, and overall capacity. The outreach included both youth and adult organizations, with 19 groups — seven adult leagues and 12 youth leagues — serving a combined 3,220 members. Input was received from seven youth organizations and four adult groups, representing about 1,290 members who regularly reserve field space for various sports.
Input from organized user groups revealed two main issues: limited field capacity and poor facility conditions.
Nine of the 11 responding groups operate year-round, emphasizing the need for lighted fields, especially in colder months. All soccer organizations expressed a strong preference for Barney Schwartz Park due to its superior field quality and amenities, while Sherwood Park was unanimously deemed the least favorable because of safety concerns like gopher holes and uneven ground. Respondents indicated they would collectively reserve an additional 49.5 hours per week if more field space were available, and up to 56.25 more hours weekly if Sherwood Park had lighting. Safety issues were also noted at Pioneer and Larry Moore parks, with further concerns raised about damage from adult play, overcrowding, and field misuse.
To address concerns about sports field capacity and maintenance, user groups recommended several improvements.Suggestions included installing lights at Sherwood Park to extend play hours, renovating fields at Sherwood and Larry Moore parks, and enhancing maintenance schedules — particularly at parks other than Barney Schwartz Park. They also proposed providing shared maintenance equipment, replacing natural turf at Barney Schwartz Park with synthetic turf or Bermuda grass to minimize closures, and adjusting reservation times, with youth groups starting earlier and adult groups later, to help ease scheduling conflicts.
Parents, coaches, and young athletes echoed these concerns and the need for field improvements during the Tuesday, May 20, City Council meeting.
Currently, the city manages 16 athletic fields shared among youth leagues, adult recreational leagues, school programs, and public use. However, following the 2026 season, the city will be losing access to the Pioneer Park baseball field since it has been sold to the Mid-State Fairgrounds. The loss of this field now means the city will need to add an additional five athletic fields to meet the 2024 National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) standards for outdoor park and recreation facilities.
In 1982, Councilman Fred Strong started the city’s first youth soccer program. Affiliated with the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), Strong purchased all of the soccer equipment himself and organized the teams.
“I never even dreamed that it would grow this big,” Strong said. “But you can’t know how much this means to me. And there is nothing I wouldn’t do to support this program, as well as the youth baseball.”
City Council unanimously approved direction to staff to explore short-term strategies to address immediate sports field capacity and maintenance needs, including installing lights and renovating turf at Sherwood Park, and encouraging PRJUSD to include public youth sports fields in future plans for the 36th Street campus. They then unanimously approved to direct staff to implement long-term opportunities to meet the growing recreational needs of the community, including advancing the plans to develop Larry Moore Park, Beechwood Park, and a Master Park, Recreational Facility, and Trails Plan and to return to the City Council with all necessary items to facilitate this direction, including appropriate CEQA review for the aforementioned items.
The next Paso Robles City Council Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3, at 6 p.m.
