Bayfront Park pickleball won't be getting more courts

In hopes of putting the pickleball issue to rest, the Town Commission took up the topic one more time.

Mayor Ken Schneier suggested the discussion be brought forward in an agenda item with the following considerations at the forefront: 

• There would be no elimination or movement of amenities at Bayfront Park now.
• The second tennis court would be over-lined, adding two pickleball courts. In the absence of tennis players, pickeball players could use the courts. A condition of the arrangement would be that pickleball players would supply the nets and posts needed for pickleball on the newly overlined court.
• The town would continue to explore additional parking opportunities for Bayfront Park. For example, conversations are still in the works for use of the lot on the Frontier property.
• The town would continue to consider the demand for additional racket sport facilities, where to locate them and how to fund them.

“In my view, it says to everyone involved, we have limited space in this town,” Schneier said. “We’re happy that we have people that want to play pickleball. We’re also happy that we have people that want to take classes at the Bayfront (Park) Recreation Center and use the other amenities there. … I think this should solve the short-term problem that we have as we move forward to try and figure out how to deal with longer-term issues.”

Ultimately, the conditions above were voted down 2-5 with only Schneier and Commissioner Penny Gold voting in favor. 

The main concern, again, was the lack of parking at the park not only for pickleball players but also for other people wanting to use the space. 

When the issue came before commissioners during peak season, striping the tennis court was voted down out of concern that additional courts would draw more people to play at an already overcrowded space. 

“I still don’t think we’ve addressed the major problem, which is parking,” Commissioner Debra Williams said. “We’ve added six spaces and that’s great, but that’s not the whole picture here. We still have a lot of people coming to Bayfront Park who want to park and play pickleball or play tennis or use the park for other uses. We still don’t have enough.” 

Williams and the majority of other commissioners were in favor of a court scheduling system to cut down on large crowds that were waiting for courts and taking parking spots during peak season. 

“I think that’s really the equitable way to take care of the parking,” Williams said. “It’s also the right way to take care of the use of the courts.”

Three residents spoke during public comment. All of them shared personal experiences with parking issues and concerns that restriping the tennis court would be favoring pickleball players over other users of the park. 

“Where is the equity in striping the last tennis court for pickleball and hoping that play will move faster?” Donna Patterson said. “That’s just not realistic. It’s not equitable.” 

She added that restriping would likely push tennis players looking to use the free space to other courts in the town, which require payment for use, whereas pickleball players are not expected to pay for using the town’s public courts. 

“Our park is being taken over by a group that feels entitled to use all the courts, making their own rules and not considering that others can’t use the park because they have taken up all the parking spots,” she said. 

To address parking, commissioners discussed the possibility of designating the six new parking spots on the south end of the park for recreation center use only during busy season. 

As far as the reservation system goes, the only people interested in implementing one are the board members, said Schneier.

Implementing a fee for use of the courts was another idea suggested to help limit park traffic and parking strain. 

“You can only accommodate so many people,” Commissioner BJ Bishop said. “This park may not be able to accommodate two more full-time pickleball courts.”

Due to the failed motion, the remaining dedicated tennis court will not be restriped and, for the time being, use of the park will continue unchanged.