The prospect of city tennis courts overtaken by pickleball players initially created quite a racket among tennis enthusiasts. But players from both sides and the city of Los Altos have reached a compromise solution in an effort to share limited court space.
The chief plan, proposed and agreed to by both sides, is a one-year pilot program involving six pickleball courts with overlaid yellow striping at the McKenzie Park tennis courts. The proposal is scheduled to go before the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission at today’s meeting.
Looking to add a second location, city officials also plan to stripe four pickleball courts at Montclaire Park – a proposal that neither the tennis nor the pickleball representatives endorsed. McKenzie will have priority days for tennis and pickleball, but Montclaire will be first come, first served.
The moves come after a June 30 meeting between City Manager Gabriel Engeland and six residents – three on each side – representing the tennis and pickleball proponents.
“Given that the pilot program initially did not involve the tennis community of Los Altos, the fact that you listened to people and changed the direction of the program is worthy of note and appreciation,” tennis representative Scott Spielman wrote to Engeland.
“A lot of this is the initiative of (residents) coming together,” Spielman told the Town Crier.
“The city can move ahead with a pilot program that’s acceptable to the two communities,” said Rajat Suri, another of the tennis representatives.
Pickleball representative Dorit Perry echoed the sentiments.
“We have looked at all the possible locations and for us, McKenzie Park was really the only location (for pickleball) because it is not nearby to homes,” she said.
It also allowed for a concentration of courts, Perry added.
“For pickleball, you need a lot of courts in one location so people can go in and out of games,” she said.
The compromise plan is different from the one city officials envisioned in May when initial plans involved overlaying pickleball stripes at tennis courts in four Los Altos parks. Tennis players said they found out about the plan just days before the installation. Their protests put the program on hold. Subsequently, pickleball and tennis players held several meetings together to work on a solution.
Described as a hybrid of tennis, badminton and pingpong, pickleball has been referred to as one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. The game involves up to four players and is played on a smaller court area than tennis. Pickleball also involves paddles, as opposed to rackets, an element that had some residents concerned about increased noise.
For Los Altos pickleball player Dianne Edmonds, who has been playing at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto, the overarching goal for local players is dedicated pickleball courts in Los Altos.
“We’ll start with the shared courts, but our goal all along has been to get dedicated courts, but we’ll get there,” said Edmonds, who participated in forging the compromise solution.
The pilot program is not without its drawbacks. Montclaire courts are close to residential homes, and pickleball is a notoriously loud sport. McKenzie is not close to homes, but parking is scarce. The city’s nearby parking lot is now consistently full, some residents contend, with patrons from the nearby medical offices and workers from the city’s corporation yard parking there and taking up the limited spaces.
Engeland noted the city parking lot is open for any member of the public, not just park users. But plans are in the offing for increased enforcement of the two-hour lot maximum at lots throughout the city. Engeland said more parking spaces at McKenzie will be freed up with some public works improvements.
As for noise, the city will be testing noise levels at both locations during the course of the pilot program. Engeland said each of the sites will have “noise dampening” installed on the fencing to reduce the noise created.
“Our preliminary measurements show the noise should be within the code, and kept below the requirements in the (city’s) noise ordinance once the noise dampening is installed,” he said. “Noise is the primary concern of any pickleball location, and we will need to understand the noises generated very well if we want to create a permanent pickleball facility.”
Curiously, Engeland said the primary concern at Montclaire, based on feedback the city received, was not noise, but a lack of restroom facilities.
“Depending on use, the city may consider adding restroom facilities at Montclaire, which is called for in the parks master plan,” he said.
The key, however, is “finding out what works and what doesn’t,” as Edmonds put it, with the pilot program.
Suri said that if the plan goes forward, both sides will meet with the city periodically. The city will monitor use and take in community feedback.
“We’ll figure out how we can make this work for everyone,” he said. “We’re all neighbors here. We want to support our fellow racket sports players and our fellow neighbors – that’s the spirit in which we’ve always approached this.”
A new striping plan is the first step, said Manny Hernandez, the city’s parks and recreation director. He said there is no start date yet for the pilot program.