City weighs multiple pickleball options, staff to report grant status next month

Staff told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission on March 9 that the city has expanded the set of options for addressing local pickleball demand and is consolidating cost and partnership information for a council workshop.

Sabrina said staff is “pulling all the costs together” and revisiting previous discussions with the school district and county; she said the administration had taken three options to council before but now expects to bring four or five options forward for evaluation and public discussion.

At public comment, J. R. Russell, vice president of a homeowners association, urged conversion of a neighborhood tennis court near Broadview Elementary into multiple pickleball courts and said abandoned vehicles in nearby parking have made the site less usable. "You could probably put in 3 pickleball courts over a tennis court," Russell said and offered photos and video to staff.

Why it matters: commissioners saw the issue as both a parks-planning and an equity question — how to balance short-term community requests with long-term capital planning. Staff said it will compile cost estimates and present a more complete update at the next meeting; staff also said the pickleball grant resubmission deadline is approaching and that staff will finalize grant details this week and report back.

Staff noted that further outreach and partnership conversations — including with leagues, the Pickleball Court Association and the school district — are underway, and that any proposal would be presented to council as part of the normal agenda-bill process. The commission asked staff to include grant status and procurement considerations in the next briefing so commissioners can make budget recommendations during the CIP cycle.

The commission will revisit pickleball at its next regular meeting and expects staff to provide a clearer, actionable update including funding scenarios and any grant outcomes.