When: East Hempfield Township supervisors meeting, April 20.
What happened: In a 3-2 vote the board decided to delay work on tennis and pickleball court modifications at Amos Herr Park in Landisville until township staff can provide an estimate of how much it would cost to install entirely new pickleball courts.
Background: For roughly two years, the township has been receiving complaints regarding the noise created by pickleball play from a husband and wife who live across the street from the pickleball courts at Amos Herr Park. The couple says the noise has caused the wife to develop a diagnosed mental health issue, which has reduced her quality of life. After a lengthy discussion at the board’s last meeting, supervisors voted 5-0 to modify the tennis courts for pickleball play and modify the current pickleball and basketball court area for tennis and basketball play.
New proposal: Supervisor Edward LeFevre acknowledged he voted in favor of the plan approved at the last meeting, but after further thought he decided it would be better not to modify the current tennis courts. Instead, LeFevre said he prefers to install new pickleball courts in the corner of the park near the Amos Herr Mansion.
Vote: Chairman Scott Wiglesworth and Supervisor H. Scott Russell voted against delaying the work. Russell said he had supported the original plan because it included improvements to the basketball court that already needed done. Russell said he would prefer not to change anything at the park but viewed switching the courts as an acceptable compromise.
Next steps: The board will decide whether to modify the current courts or pursue installing new pickleball courts after they have cost estimates for both options.
Other business: The board voted to begin the rezoning process for several properties along Harrisburg Pike that have been used commercially for decades but were unintentionally moved to the low-density residential zone when the township redid its zoning map in 2014. Supervisors were informed of the issue by Always Never Done, one of the businesses affected, that has to go through a lengthy process to make minor changes due to the properties current zoning.