I would like to address the various issues related to pickleball courts (and by extension tennis courts) following the recent Almanac article regarding this same topic. For the record I played tennis for many years; after an injury I switched to pickleball. People are passionate about both, as you have, I am sure, noted.
1. I appreciate that you are trying to move forward quickly with trying to make more courts available to more people to be able to play on. The demand and ferocity of attachment to one or the other game (or to both), seems to indicate that more courts be available both to lessen usage bottlenecks, and to address the growing participation levels of PB, generally.
2. Use of Nealon Park: A public utilization assessment of the Nealon Park and other courts would make sense to note the number of people on each court at what time and which day, and to get a better sense of who ( tennis players vs PB players) uses which courts, when . Objectively, the overall number of people "served" (pun intended) by a single tennis court is lesser (maximum 4) than those served by a single tennis court converted to PB (maximum 16) PB players.
3. Investigate sound proofing panels for all PB courts near apartments/housing, as well as for those courts in noisy areas . Anecdotally, I understand that Kelly Park, while not near housing, is also quite noisy, making it difficult for players to communicate during a game, which might be at least one reason the courts are not used. High decibel levels are neither healthy nor appealing for outdoor play and relaxation.
4. To encourage both established playing groups and walk-up usage (which is inherent in, but not exclusive to PB), ideally it makes sense to group courts together to facilitate including as many people as possible to play on the courts .
5. Overarching issues :
* Keys - I disagree wholeheartedly with charging for keys to the courts. We dont charge people for libraries, and recreation facilities are every bit a public resource . Palo Alto does not charge for pickleball access,nor does Redwood City. The PA Pickleball club handles cleaning and equipment for the courts , and asks people to join for a nominal fee if they plan to play on the courts to support their continued operation . Lessons are free for PB in PA, taught by volunteers, and there is an explicit system of rotating in/ceding the court for players facing already full courts. We do that now at Nealon to a less organized degree.
* It should go without saying that plentiful parking should be available commensurate with the number of people who utilize the number of courts in each location
6. Issues at Nealon:
* I might suggest that the "door" to the existing PB court on the far side courts (near the dog park) be made operable, so people can more easily and safely come and go from the court without interrupting games in progress.
* I might suggest that one of the two courts adjacent to the current PB courts be made into a "mixed use" court if utilization assessment indicates that both courts are not fully utilized during the day (or at least during the morning hours when this observation over the past year was made) . An operable door between the courts already exists.
Thank you all for addressing this often contentious issue, and I hope youll take my thoughts under consideration.
Sincerely,
Nancy Hosay
325 Linfield Pl.
Menlo Park
