Carlsbad sticks with artificial turf for city soccer fields

Carlsbad has decided to stick with artificial turf for its soccer fields at Poinsettia Community Park, despite pleas from environmental advocates to return to natural grass.

The City Council voted 4-1, with Councilmember Teresa Acosta opposed, to replace the worn-out turf with a new type of plastic playing field that does not contain the crumbled rubber used as fill in older artificial surfaces.

“It’s not sustainable to add more plastic to our environment … especially when natural grass is a viable and cost-comparable alternative,” Acosta said. “I know that natural fields are possible, for many people preferable … and are healthier for our kids, our community and our planet.”

Soccer coaches and club representatives pushed to keep the plastic fields. They said synthetic turf requires less water and maintenance, provides a more stable playing surface than natural grass, and allows more players to get in more practice and games throughout the year.

Natural grass fields can’t be used for about five weeks every summer when they are down for aerating, fertilizing, sodding and recovery, said Parks and Recreation Director Kyle Lancaster. An additional two to three weeks of maintenance is needed each winter. On average, soccer fields also are closed about two weeks a year because of rain and the time needed to dry out afterward.

“While natural grass may seem appealing, it simply cannot meet the year-round demands of our community,” said one soccer parent.

Artificial fields are available year round, except during heavy rain, and they dry out within hours afterward. The new surfaces also hold less heat than older types.

“This is one of those decisions where you are not going to get everything right,” said Councilman Kevin Shin. “This is a balance between how we treat our environment, the playability of what we are providing our residents and visitors, and … players’ health.”

He said he was pleased that the replacement turf will not have the crumb rubber filling made from old tires that “gets everywhere” including the shoes, clothes and faces of young players.

Another concern is that small pieces of the rubber crumb and plastic blades in the turf spread far afield. They get into the soil and water, becoming part of the microplastics found virtually everywhere from human organs to the ocean depths.

“We have the science,” said Dianne Woelke, a retired nurse with the group Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc. “We know these fields cause cancer.”

She said the artificial turf industry is “playing whack-a-mole” by substituting new plastic products for old ones previously used in their synthetic grass.

City recreation officials said the replacement product proposed for Poinsettia Park has none of the PFAs used in older turf. PFAs, also known as “forever chemicals,” don’t decompose easily, if ever, in the environment and can accumulate with harmful results.

The replacement turf approved is called Pivot, the product of a company called TenCate based in the Netherlands. It carries a 12-year warranty as opposed to the standard eight-year warranty, and the cushioning pad beneath the turf has a 25-year warranty.

Pivot turf has been installed in about 40 California locations including the Santee Sportsplex USA in 2024 and Leo Carrillo Elementary School in Carlsbad in 2025, according to a staff report.

The council’s decision authorizes city staffers to seek bids to install the new turf, which is expected to cost about $2 million.

Carlsbad installed its first artificial grass field at Poinsettia in 2004, and it was replaced once in 2015. The city now has plastic turf on eight fields at five parks, and at other city playgrounds and recreational areas.