In spring a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of … sports. With outdoor sports leagues beginning to ramp up their seasons in some of Oakley’s 30 parks, city officials recently adopted regulations for the rental of those parks and city facilities for sports, picnics and parties.

The rules govern things such as the type of alcohol that can be consumed, where smoking is banned, staking of tents, storage of equipment and cleaning of toilet and wash facilities.

The fees that will be charged to rent city facilities will be discussed at the City Council’s Feb. 10 meeting.

“What I’m hoping to do tonight is get the policies adopted and come back with the fees,” Recreation Manager Denis Nishihara said to the council on Jan. 27. “The issue we are having internally is an influx of (requests for) permits that want to be approved before leagues start (their season).”

The rules are not designed to be onerous, he said. “What we would hate to do is put a whole bunch of regulations on our leagues and community and have them jump through the hoops,” Nishihara said. “We are hoping to lead them and guide them and not have to spend more money to fix the parks … and help us make the park look a little bit better.

“We have been in close partnership with the leagues for a few years now. They are happy to have the space. A lot of the park requests are from other communities. They understand the (regulations are) coming.”

The council members were on board with most of the regulations, but they also made several changes.

Councilman Jim Frazier said hard liquor should not be allowed in the community building known as The White House or in City Hall, but beer and wine could still be consumed. In addition, if beer and wine are being sold, the vendor must have a liquor license.

Councilman Kevin Romick said that the city Web site should provide updated information on whether the weather might affect the use of a park.

Councilwoman Pat Anderson said that park renters providing portable toilets and wash facilities should file a sanitation plan with the city. “The plan needs to say who’s going to check it when, they will see if there’s toilet paper, if there are fluids overflowing,” she said. “Somebody needs to be watching it.”

Park and facility renters will be asked to fill out a comment sheet, providing feedback for the council to review annually. The regulations were adopted unanimously.