November 5, 2023
City Council Members, Menlo Park
Dear Council Members,
I am a homeowner in the Willows neighborhood of Menlo Park and would like to comment on the proposal for new pickleball courts to be built in Willow Oaks Park.
I have concerns about this location, especially due to noise hazards that would impact my residence at 520 Gilbert Avenue.
I’m glad to see that the city dropped plans to convert the basketball courts to pickleball. As I wrote previously, that was a poor choice because of the close proximity to houses that would be negatively impacted by pickleball noise.
The current proposal to build new pickleball courts near the sculpture between the tennis courts and Willow Road is a little better, because it puts more distance between the pickleball courts and housing.
However, I still feel that the location is problematic. It is still too close to housing and will produce undesirable noise levels for residents. USA Pickleball recommends that courts should be at least 200 feet away from houses or more to avoid noise complaints. Unfortunately, the proposed location is not 200 feet away from housing, so noise problems are likely.
In addition, that location would require considerable work before courts could be built. The large, heavy sculpture would have to be relocated. Also, the ground there is not level. It is hilly and would have to be made level with costly earth moving. Furthermore, that location would put the courts very close to Willow Road, which is heavily travelled, exposing players to breathing abundant pollution from cars, an unwanted health hazard.
Before any proposal to build pickleball courts in Willow Oaks Park moves forward, there should be a study to analyze noise pollution, air pollution, adequacy of parking facilities, and cost of construction. Unfortunately, noise dampening fencing has been shown to be ineffective for adequately reducing noise levels when close to housing.
I would like to advocate for an alternative proposal, to build new pickleball courts at Burgess Park. That location is central and offers sites that are far more than 200 feet from housing, thus alleviating the noise issue. There is also abundant parking at Burgess, and the park offers many alternative activities such as library, pool, gym, skatepark, etc., for those in a party who are not playing pickleball or are awaiting a court.
Thank you for hearing my thoughts.
Yours sincerely,
Michele Calos, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita, Department of Genetics
Stanford University School of Medicine
Home: 520 Gilbert Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025
