Facility Maintenance & Closures

Facility Maintenance

City facilities are maintained by the Public Services Division. Any alterations or modifications to the facilities will be coordinated by the City staff liaison to the group and shall be approved and managed by Public Facilities. 

Any request by a permit holder to perform maintenance of any kind at a City facility should be written, in detail, and sent to their City staff liaison.  If the permit holder is given written authorization, the permit holder must then coordinate, and get written approval for, the work to be completed. Any permit holder found performing maintenance tasks at a facility without written authorization will be subject to having their permit privileges rescinded indefinitely.

Permit holders must inspect the permitted facility prior to use.  If the permit holder discovers facility damage upon inspection, it must be immediately reported to the City staff member who issued the permit or via email to recrentals@pbgfl.com. If the damage has the potential to be hazardous to any of the activity’s participants, the permit holder must cancel the activity and report the cancellation to recrentals@pbgfl.com .  

Permit holders are prohibited from leaving equipment at any City facility without written authorization from City staff liaison.  The City is not responsible for any items or equipment left at a City facility.  Any item left behind by a participant, if found by City staff, will be returned to the City’s Recreation Department.  Permit holders may contact recrentals@pbgfl.com with any lost and found inquiries.  City staff may discard any item or equipment deemed hazardous to the public.

Turf Impact Mitigation Plan

The City of Palm Beach Gardens is proud to have some of the best sports fields in the state.  The purpose of this document is to inform the public of the measures taken by the City to maintain the integrity of the fields for the public to safely enjoy for years to come.  The City reserves the right to change the information in this plan at any time. 

Field Closures

Scheduled Periodic Closures
All athletic fields require rest and repair. Each athletic field is closed periodically throughout the year on a rotating basis. Functions completed during these closures include, but are not limited to: aeration, verticutting, resodding, herbicide, grading, irrigation, drainage, topdressing and providing the turf a chance to recover from constant play. Click here to access the closure schedule.

While the City schedules these closures on an annual basis, the City reserves the right to modify or add closures to any or all fields based on their condition. In the event a permit must be canceled due to a facility closure, and the permit never commenced, a full refund will be issued to the permit holder.

Daily Closures
On a day-to-day basis, the City reserves the right to close facilities at any time in consideration of the safety and well-being of City facilities, participants, and staff.  All turf fields are evaluated daily.  All attempts will be made to have facilities open for permits unless facilities are deemed unplayable due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. Only City staff has the authority to open City facilities if conditions change.  In the event a permit must be canceled due to a facility closure, and the permit never commenced, a full refund will be issued to the permit holder.

The City now uses an automated system for notifying permit holders of weather cancellations.  Up-to-date field conditions may be found at www.pbgrec.com/weather. Permit holders and facility users are urged to register for text and/or email alerts for the facilities which they intend to use.  

Field Capacity

Too many feet on any single field can quickly wear down the turf and create unsafe playing conditions.   Capacities per multipurpose field are based on age and are as follows:

Events may be exempt from the capacities listed above.   City staff will review capacities for events on a case-by-case basis.

Block Permits

Groups who receive block permits (regularly occurring facility use over a period of time) may, depending on use frequency and turf impact, be shifted within a facility or moved to different facilities throughout the course of their permit.  

Block permit recipients are responsible for spreading play throughout their permitted facilities to prevent wear patterns on the turf, thus creating unsafe playing conditions.  Failure to take measures to protect the fields may result in suspension or loss of the block permit.  

Public Services staff will shift field layouts and locations throughout block permits as another means to protecting the sports turf and changing wear areas.  

Facility Maintenance

City facilities are maintained by the Public Services Division. Any request by a permit holder to perform maintenance of any kind at a City facility must complete the Facility Maintenance Request Form and get approval from City staff.  Any permit holder found performing maintenance tasks at a facility without authorization will be subject to having their permit privileges rescinded indefinitely.

Field Use

The City reserves the sole right to approve permits.  During busy field use periods hours of operation may be limited to reduce excessive wear and tear and safety concerns.  

Event requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.  Events may be rejected at the City’s discretion for any reason included, but not limited to, the following:

• Proposed event would create excessive wear on the fields.
• Historical field traffic during the proposed dates in addition to an event would overwhelm the fields.
• Insufficient staffing available due to event conflicts.

 For events that are accepted, the City may enact some or all of the following stipulations:

• Limit the number of fields available to an event.
• Limit the number of days and hours that an event may use facilities.
• The event may be shifted throughout a facility or throughout multiple facilities to lessen excessive wear.

Event organizers and participants may not use stakes of any kind on the sports turf.  Any equipment that the event wishes to use on the sports turf must get written approval by City staff.  

Vending and Concessions

The sale or catering of any items on City property without authorization is prohibited by City Ordinance. Permitted field users and certain permitted events may be authorized to operate their own food concession during permitted times for their activity according to the following requirements: 

1. All requests must be noted on the permit.
2. All concessions must be licensed and operated according to the State of Florida and Palm Beach County regulations and codes. 
3. Proper certificates of insurance shall be in place with the City. 
4. It is the responsibility of the user group to maintain a clean and safe concession. This includes trailer/ tent concessions. Concession facilities are subject to inspection by City staff to ensure standards of cleanliness and compliance with all Fire regulations. Concession stands are not meant to be used as storage facilities. 
5. Trailer/tent concession use and placement must be approved by City staff prior to arrival on site. In the event of a hurricane, or other extreme act of nature, it is the responsibility of the permitted user to remove concession trailers/tents from the parks.
6. Natural gas shall not be stored inside concession trailers or buildings when not in use. 
7. Vehicles are not permitted to be parked at press boxes or concession trailers except prior to participant and spectator arrival for delivery purpose only. 
8. Due to safety concerns, concession deliveries should occur during times when activity is not taking place. Access to playing fields must remain free of congestion to allow access for emergency service vehicles.

Keys and Locks

All locks on park gates will be City-issued locks. No permit holder shall put their own lock on a gate unless written authorization is provided by the City. No keys will be issued or given to any permit holder unless approved by the City. The permit holder may not share keys with any other person without prior written authorization from City staff.  It is the responsibility of the permit holder to replace lost keys.  If the City deems it necessary to change a lock system, the permit holder will be responsible for those costs as well.

Lightning Alert

When sky to ground directional lightning is seen or thunder is heard, fields should be cleared and cover taken in a permanent building or hard top vehicles. The City suggests that a permit holder utilize a weather app that tracks lightning. A minimum of 30 minutes should pass after the last seen lightning strike, or thunder is heard prior to returning to play. It is recommended that each permit holder develop an internal communication policy with their participants regarding when it is clear to come back to a facility. City staff has the right to close any outdoor facility at their discretion in the case of lightning.