Red Tape Keeps New Kid's Park In San Francisco's Mission Bay Closed
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – A brand new San Francisco park that has been finished for months still hasn't opened, and red tape is being blamed.
It's a paradise for kids, with plenty of places to play and explore. At this moment, no one can get in.
"My daughter asks me every day if I can go open it with scissors," said Danielle Swaney.
Parents in San Francisco's Mission Bay said the children's park was supposed to open last year.
"The first opening date we heard was November," said Beth Roy of Mission Bay.
Swaney said, "They told us it would be opening in January."
Michelle Weil, another Mission Bay resident said, "We moved here about 3 months ago and it was great to see there was a park that looked like it was about to open."
Back in February, people got tired of waiting. Residents said someone used bolt cutters to break open a lock and let people in.
"We got a weekend to play," Swaney said. "The place was flooded with kids and parents. It was amazing."
Mindy Linetzky of San Francisco Public Works said even though the park is ready, the surrounding area is not. "As a city we really can't open up the area to families and children and everyone until everything is completed," Linetzky told KPIX 5.
Linetzky said Mission Bay Development Group, the property's developer, had to get the streets ready for traffic. They get to decide if they want to do the park first, or the street first," she said.
That's not all. The city's Board of Supervisorsv still has to formally approve the park, and there has to be a review period.
"It just seems like there are a lot of things that need to happen," Weil said. "And it just seems to me that they should have been completed before they opened the park.
The city is now saying the park should open late July or early August.
