Adding recommendations for for Pickleball in MP:
> If the city will build new courts, build no fewer than 4 Pickleball courts at any location to align with Pickleball as a community activity
> If a survey is conducted, include community preference for Pickleball locations (would anyone from West-Menlo travel to Kelly or Willow Oaks?)
> For future planning and proposals by city staff, consider the addition of Pickleball courts (per USTA guidelines) on Nealon Court 4
> If noise is an objection, specifically measure Nealon sound levels at the park and parking lot perimeter for Pickleball, Dog-park, Resident Dogs, and ball games (v. reliance on ad-hoc noise complaints) and add sound barriers along fence sides, where & if-needed.
> Ask that City Council enforce the shared-court-use Agreement for Hillview School to fund $10,000 court renovations every ten years (retroactive and moving forward)
[cid:part1.zbbxZCOw.80msjwET@schottmail.com]
> Schedule indoor Pickleball Play at Arrillaga Gym
> Introduce city-managed Pickleball Lessons, Clinics, and Tournaments during low-use hours at Nealon
> While they will remain popular, the Nealon Park Pickleball courts are not large enough for Official Tournament Play and should not be considered equivalent to the staff reporting of Pickleball-courts-per-city-resident when comparing to other cities.
> Note that PRC staff survey at Nealon confirmed that at least one Nealon Tennis court remains unused 76%-99% of the time (player surveys indicated that a tennis courts remains unused 93% of the time). Ask why tennis legacy is treated as more important than court popularity for all players, Tennis AND Pickleball
[cid:part2.jJYmm6Cf.WbrN70eM@schottmail.com]
On Monday, March 4, 2024 at 09:30:26 AM PST, Brian Kissel > wrote:
Hi All, if you havent seen this article, it provides an overview of the citys plans for PB.
https://www.almanacnews.com/menlo-park/2024/03/01/menlo-park-council-takes-up-possible-pickleball-expansion/
Among the recommendations were to:
* Continue pickleball play on the converted tennis court at Nealon Park with a temporary rather than permanent designation.
* Make the pickleball courts at Kelly Park permanent. This option would mean removing the court configuration for tennis and putting in striping exclusively for pickleball.
* Add noise-dampening material onto the existing fence at those parks.
* Build two new pickleball courts at Willow Oaks Park as part of continuing renovations there.
* Pursue the feasibility study, which would evaluate parks, joint-use sites owned by local school districts and other places for pickleball play. The study would also take into account cost, noise impacts, accessibility and other factors associated with each site.
* Conducting the study should cost no more than $85,000, according to Reinhart. But he told the council that it would likely turn out to “be far less than that.”
If you disagree with these recommendations, you should send an email to the city council with your feedback. Send it to: city.council@menlopark.gov
When you send your email it will be posted to the city council message board here: https://www.hiago.app/en/organizations/menlo-park
My personal thoughts are:
1. We should NOT spend $85,000 on a study because its already clear that the Parks & Rec department and city council arent going to add more PB court capacity by sharing any more tennis courts. They are only willing to consider adding capacity by building new courts which will likely be 2+ years out.
2. Instead, we should use that $85,000 to do the following:
* Provide sound barriers at Nealon and Kelly park
* Restripe the Nealon court #5 to be permanent PB only.
* Set up a fund to maintain, repair, and replace the PB nets as necessary
* Repair all the lights at Nealon tennis courts
* Provide some benches outside the courts at Nealon so players have a place to sit off the courts while they wait to play. Since the courts are are often full with people waiting, making them have to wait on the court impedes play and creates safety issue both for players and those waiting.
3. Any other recommendations we should all make to the city council?
Thanks for your support. If we dont speak up now, it looks like the plan proposed at the city council meeting is what will happen. I will wait to hear from others before posting my recommendations. If we, as a PB community, can provide clear and consistent recommendations to the Parks & Rec department and City Council, we have a better chance of success.
Cheers, Brian
=========
Brian Kissel
brian.kissel@gmail.com
Mobile: 650.397.1414
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