Agenda Item No. 10
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council DATE: May 28, 2024 FROM: Matthew Bronson, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Larry Kim, Community Services Supervisor
Kristin Eriksson, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Parks, Recreation, and Beautification Commission Recommendation on Mentone Basin Park Pickleball Courts
RECOMMENDATION
Approve a recommendation of the Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission (PRBC) to convert the tennis court at Mentone Basin Park into four permanent pickleball courts and allocate funds from General Fund reserves for the conversion.
BACKGROUND
At the February 15, 2022 City Council meeting, the Council approved a pickleball pilot program, installing temporary lines for two pickleball courts on an existing tennis court at Mentone Basin Park to determine public interest in pickleball. The pilot program details can be seen in the staff report for the February 15th meeting (Attachment 1). Since the introduction of this program, pickleball activity has continued to grow in Grover Beach and throughout San Luis Obispo County.
Locally, there have been numerous pickleball courts installed at private clubs, businesses, city parks, and schools.
For the pilot program, the City hired a contractor to paint lines for dual pickleball/tennis use. These lines provided the ability for the court to be used as a single tennis court (white lines) or as two pickleball courts (yellow lines). Staff distributed surveys within the surrounding neighborhood to determine the best times for each sport, respectively. As a result, a schedule for usage for tennis and pickleball activity was created and managed by the respective users.
Since its inception, the pilot program has shown a demand for pickleball in the community. Staff estimates up to 100 players a month playing on the two temporary courts with a dozen active volunteers who maintain and set up the pickleball courts for use as well. Staff have spoken with volunteers who indicated that changing the Mentone Basin Park tennis court to a pickleball-only facility would create even more demand as the pickleball community prefers playing on courts that are striped for pickleball only. This corresponds with the tennis community who also have reported distractions by striping for dual use tennis/pickleball courts and prefer the courts striped for tennis alone. Although dual striping the courts creates opportunities for both sports, it also decreases demand by players for daily use.
Given this demand for pickleball facilities, in February staff reached out to a sports contractor to get an estimate to resurface the tennis court to permanently convert to four pickleball courts. The estimated cost for this conversion is $16,000. If converted, the City would continue to have three Staff Report: Mentone Basin Park Pickleball Court Conversion Page 2 May 28, 2024
tennis courts at two parks including Grover Heights Park and Hero Park and have pickleball courts at Mentone Basin Park.
At the April 18, 2024 PRBC meeting, staff presented the outcomes of the pickleball pilot program and options to permanently convert the existing tennis court to four pickleball courts. A diagram showing the proposed configuration of the new courts can be seen in Attachment 2. After discussion about location, effects on the tennis community, and other environmental considerations, the Commission recommended the conversion of the Mentone Basin Park tennis court to four permanent pickleball courts for Council approval. The PRBC also recommends that the new pickleball courts be equipped with upgraded temporary nets, rather than installing permanent nets, to allow for alternative uses of the courts when they are not being used for pickleball. The details of the PRBC report are available in Attachment 2.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost associated with converting the existing tennis court at Mentone Basin Park to four permanent pickleball courts as recommended is estimated at $16,000. As there is no dedicated funding for this conversion, staff would recommend the Council approve a budget augmentation in FY 2024-25 using General Fund reserves.
ALTERNATIVES
The Council has the following alternatives to consider:
1. Approve a recommendation of the Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission (PRBC) to convert the tennis court at Mentone Basin Park into four permanent pickleball courts and allocate funds from General Fund reserves for the conversion; or
2. Do not approve the project and keep the existing tennis court as-is for dual use; or
3. Provide alternative direction to staff.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.
Attachment
1. Staff report from the February 15, 2022 City Council Meeting.
2. Staff report from the April 18, 2024 PRBC Meeting
Agenda Item No. 4
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council DATE: February 15, 2022 FROM: Matthew Bronson, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Kathy Petker, Parks & Recreation Director
SUBJECT: Pilot Program to Co-locate Four Pickleball Courts at the Mentone Basin Park Tennis Court
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the recommendation of the Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission to start a pilot program to co-locate four pickleball courts at the Mentone Basin Park tennis court.
BACKGROUND:
Pickleball, a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping pong, has seen a significant increase in participation in recent years and was declared the “the fastest growing sport in America” by The Economist. This popularity is due to its ease to play on a smaller court than tennis, ability get a workout for all ages, and fun atmosphere amongst players. The number of places to play pickleball has more than doubled since 2010, and according to USA Pickleball Association there are now nearly 8,000 known public and private locations. The spread of the sport is attributed to its popularity within community centers, PE classes, YMCA facilities, and retirement communities. It should be noted that pickleball, as compared to tennis, is considered a relaxed, fun, boisterous sport where all ages are playing amongst each other.
Within San Luis Obispo County, nearly every jurisdiction has pickleball courts including private gym businesses and public agencies. Due to the smaller dimension requirements of court size (20’ x 44’) for both singles and doubles, installing a co-located or blended tennis/pickleball court includes the ability to offer 1 tennis court along with 1, 2, 3 or 4 pickleball courts. While the maximum number of players playing tennis on one court is four people playing doubles, the maximum number playing pickleball using the same space is 16 playing on four courts which further activates the park space. There are currently no pickleball courts in Grover Beach though the City frequently receives requests from the public to add such courts.
At the January 20, 2022 Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission meeting, the Commission considered a proposal from staff to begin a pilot program to co-locate four pickleball courts at an existing tennis court at either Mentone Basin Park or Hero Park. The Commission ultimately recommended that Council approve such a pilot program at the Mentone Basin Park tennis court as this court is centrally located and would continue to allow full-time tennis play at Grover Heights Park (2 courts) and at Hero Park (1 court). This pilot program would provide staff with an opportunity to gauge the co-located use for consideration of permanent changes. In general, tennis and pickleball hours at the Mentone Basin Park court would be designated for priority hours of each sport respectively on a daily basis.
Attachment 1
Staff Report: Pilot Program to Co-Locate Pickleball Courts at Mentone Basin Park Tennis Court Page 2 February 15, 2022
Staff has subsequently consulted a local sports court company (Tennis Warehouse) and invited their staff to inspect the Mentone Basin tennis court. Staff also consulted with the lead volunteer from the City of Arroyo Grande Pickleball Club (John Rogers) who was a former Recreation Director with the City of Arroyo Grande and City of Grover Beach. Staff also met with a sports court surfacing company to review dimensions and temporary paint line estimates. Furthermore, staff consulted with local agencies to assist with establishing guidelines that would include designated tennis and pickleball play times as well as receiving information on how to implement a selfregulating pickleball club. Club members would essentially assist with setting up nets and providing gear along with locking items in a storage area to be determined with assistance of the Public Works Department.
Below are other highlights of this pilot program for the Council’s consideration:
• The existing center net at the Mentone Basin Park tennis court would stay in place for tennis play and would also be used as a divider between pickleball courts to stop astray balls from rolling into other courts
• There would be minimal line striping with the existing tennis court lines • Co-location and timing of use could limit neighborhood parking impacts during high use play times
• Noise impacts on neighbors would be limited to cheering and the sound of paddles hitting a pickleball-similar to a wiffleball
• Allows for “drop-in” play during designated times based on establishing priority times-for example: Monday, Wednesday and Fridays could be drop-in priority time for Pickleball players and Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday could be drop-in priority time for tennis players.
If players of the respective sport do not show up for play, then the court would be on a firstcome, first-serve basis which is the generally accepted system used on co-located courts • Allows all players to play due to the rotation of play system for ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ so people are rotating consistently without long wait periods • Volunteer recruitment would be necessary for success in operating this co-located court.
Pending Council approval, staff would work to implement this pilot program to have the co-located courts begin this spring. The pilot program would last through this summer after which point staff would report on the results to the Parks, Recreation, and Beautification Commission and ultimately the Council to consider permanent changes.
FISCAL IMPACT
The estimated cost to co-locate the existing tennis court with pickleball courts is $20,000. This would include surface patching and paint color coding of pickleball court overlayed with tennis court lines and respective dimensions; signage, locking storage area, portable rolling nets, leaf blowing equipment, and other needed items such as equipment rental of paddles and pickleballs.
This cost will be absorbed in this year’s operating budget.
ALTERNATIVES
The City Council has the following alternative to consider:
1. Approve the recommendation of the Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission to start a pilot program to co-locate four pickleball courts at the Mentone Basin Park tennis court;
Staff Report: Pilot Program to Co-Locate Pickleball Courts at Mentone Basin Park Tennis Court Page 3 February 15, 2022
2. Do not approve this recommendation; or
3. Provide alternative direction to staff.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Mentone Basin Park Tennis Court
2. One Tennis Court with One Pickleball Court
3. One Tennis Court with Two Pickleball Courts
4. One Tennis Court with Four Pickleball Courts
5. Tennis and Pickleball Blended Court Lines
Attachment 1
Attachment 2
Attachment 3
Attachment 4
Attachment 5
PARKS, RECREATION AND BEATIFICATION STAFF REPORT
TO: Parks, Recreation and Beatification Commission DATE: April 18, 2024 FROM: Kristin Eriksson, Assistant City Manager
PREPARED BY: Larry Kim, Community Services Supervisor
SUBJECT: Mentone Basin Pickleball Pilot Program Update
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an update on the Pickleball Pilot Program at Mentone Basin Park and provide staff direction on whether to recommend the installation of four (4) permanent pickleball courts in place of one existing single tennis court and, if so, recommend the type of net system to install at the courts to the City Council.
BACKGROUND
At the February 15, 2022, City Council meeting, the Council approved a pickleball pilot program, installing temporary lines for two pickleball courts on an existing tennis court at Mentone Basin Park to determine public interest in pickleball. The details of the pilot program can be seen in the City Council Staff Report (Attachment 1). Since the introduction of this program, pickleball has continued to grow in Grover Beach and throughout San Luis Obispo County. Locally, many parks and facilities have installed or converted courts for pickleball, including private clubs, businesses, city parks and recreation departments, and schools.
For the pilot program at Mentone Basin Park, the City hired a contractor to paint lines for dual pickleball/tennis use. These lines provided the ability for the court to be used as a single tennis court (white lines) or as two pickleball courts (yellow lines). Staff distributed surveys within the surrounding neighborhood to determine the best times for each sport, respectively. As a result, a schedule for usage was created. Furthermore, if the designated sport was not using the court then it was open to the public for any use.
Pilot Program Observations
Staff initially set up the portable pickleball nets for drop-in play during the designated times.
Portable nets were vandalized and broken within the first two weeks. Portable nets are now stored in the park storage room adjacent to the courts. Volunteers and participants check out keys from the Community Services Office to access a park storage room with portable nets and a leaf blower for maintenance. There have been no notable vandalism issues since this change. Participants provided their own paddles and balls.
This program has shown a demand for pickleball in the community. We estimate no less than 100 players a month playing on these two courts. A dozen active volunteers maintain and setup pickleball courts for use as well. Staff have spoken with a few volunteers and they feel that changing Mentone Basin Court to a pickleball only facility would create even more demand as the Agenda Item No. 4
Attachment 2
Staff Report: Mentone Basin Pickleball Update Page 2
April 18, 2024
pickleball community prefers playing on courts that are striped for pickleball only. This corresponds with the tennis community who also get distracted by dual use tennis/pickball courts and prefer the courts striped for tennis alone. Although dual striping the courts creates opportunities for both sports, it simultaneously decreases demand for serious players for daily use.
With continuing demand for pickleball facilities, in February 2024, staff reached out to a sports contractor to get an estimate to permanently convert the Mentone Basin Park tennis court for fulltime pickleball use only. With the smaller footprint required for pickleball, the Mentone Park tennis court would be replaced entirely by four pickleball courts. If converted, the City would have two parks with tennis courts (Grover Heights and Hero Park) remaining.
Estimates for conversion of the court for pickleball specifically range from $16,000 to $20,000 depending on the type of net system to be installed in the courts. On the lower end, the City would continue to have portable net systems that would be stored and checked out. The more expensive option requires permanently mounting posts and into the ground similar to tennis net systems.
The advantage to keeping portable net systems is the ability for the court to be used for more than pickleball. Indoor soccer and roller skating (not skateboards as they would damage the court surface) are two examples of other uses. Currently, there are no designated areas for roller skating use, and staff have received feedback from the roller skating community looking for an option for safe skating within our parks. Staff have confirmed with the contractor that these other use activities listed should have no damaging impact on the court surface.
Having permanent nets and posts installed will make this facility specific to pickleball only. This is the preferred setup for active players and requires less maintenance and replacement costs over time. Permanent net systems do not need to be checked out to users, freeing up staff time and resources.
FISCAL IMPACT
The costs associated with converting Mentone Park tennis court to a pickleball specific facility is estimated between $16,000 to $20,000. Since there is no funding budgeted for this project in our current 2-year budget cycle, a request for a budget allocation would have to approved by City Council.
ALTERNATIVES
The Commission has the following alternative to consider:
1. Receive an update on the Pickleball Pilot Program at Mentone Basin Park and provide staff direction on whether to recommend the installation of four (4) permanent pickleball courts in place of one existing single tennis court and, if so, recommend the type of net system to install at the courts to the City Council.; or
2. Provide staff direction to continue to use the pilot program’s dual use of the court for pickleball and tennis; or
3. Provide staff direction to convert the pilot program court for use for tennis only; or.
4. Provide alternative direction to staff.
Staff Report: Mentone Basin Pickleball Update Page 3
April 18, 2024
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Pickleball Pilot Program staff report from the February 15, 2022 City Council Meeting.
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council DATE: February 15, 2022 FROM: Matthew Bronson, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Kathy Petker, Parks & Recreation Director
SUBJECT: Pilot Program to Co-locate Four Pickleball Courts at the Mentone Basin Park Tennis Court
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the recommendation of the Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission to start a pilot program to co-locate four pickleball courts at the Mentone Basin Park tennis court.
BACKGROUND:
Pickleball, a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping pong, has seen a significant increase in participation in recent years and was declared the “the fastest growing sport in America” by The Economist. This popularity is due to its ease to play on a smaller court than tennis, ability get a workout for all ages, and fun atmosphere amongst players. The number of places to play pickleball has more than doubled since 2010, and according to USA Pickleball Association there are now nearly 8,000 known public and private locations. The spread of the sport is attributed to its popularity within community centers, PE classes, YMCA facilities, and retirement communities. It should be noted that pickleball, as compared to tennis, is considered a relaxed, fun, boisterous sport where all ages are playing amongst each other.
Within San Luis Obispo County, nearly every jurisdiction has pickleball courts including private gym businesses and public agencies. Due to the smaller dimension requirements of court size (20’ x 44’) for both singles and doubles, installing a co-located or blended tennis/pickleball court includes the ability to offer 1 tennis court along with 1, 2, 3 or 4 pickleball courts. While the maximum number of players playing tennis on one court is four people playing doubles, the maximum number playing pickleball using the same space is 16 playing on four courts which further activates the park space. There are currently no pickleball courts in Grover Beach though the City frequently receives requests from the public to add such courts.
At the January 20, 2022 Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission meeting, the Commission considered a proposal from staff to begin a pilot program to co-locate four pickleball courts at an existing tennis court at either Mentone Basin Park or Hero Park. The Commission ultimately recommended that Council approve such a pilot program at the Mentone Basin Park tennis court as this court is centrally located and would continue to allow full-time tennis play at Grover Heights Park (2 courts) and at Hero Park (1 court). This pilot program would provide staff with an opportunity to gauge the co-located use for consideration of permanent changes. In general, tennis and pickleball hours at the Mentone Basin Park court would be designated for priority hours of each sport respectively on a daily basis.
Attachment 1
Staff Report: Pilot Program to Co-Locate Pickleball Courts at Mentone Basin Park Tennis Court Page 2 February 15, 2022
Staff has subsequently consulted a local sports court company (Tennis Warehouse) and invited their staff to inspect the Mentone Basin tennis court. Staff also consulted with the lead volunteer from the City of Arroyo Grande Pickleball Club (John Rogers) who was a former Recreation Director with the City of Arroyo Grande and City of Grover Beach. Staff also met with a sports court surfacing company to review dimensions and temporary paint line estimates. Furthermore, staff consulted with local agencies to assist with establishing guidelines that would include designated tennis and pickleball play times as well as receiving information on how to implement a selfregulating pickleball club. Club members would essentially assist with setting up nets and providing gear along with locking items in a storage area to be determined with assistance of the Public Works Department.
Below are other highlights of this pilot program for the Council’s consideration:
• The existing center net at the Mentone Basin Park tennis court would stay in place for tennis play and would also be used as a divider between pickleball courts to stop astray balls from rolling into other courts
• There would be minimal line striping with the existing tennis court lines • Co-location and timing of use could limit neighborhood parking impacts during high use play times
• Noise impacts on neighbors would be limited to cheering and the sound of paddles hitting a pickleball-similar to a wiffleball
• Allows for “drop-in” play during designated times based on establishing priority times-for example: Monday, Wednesday and Fridays could be drop-in priority time for Pickleball players and Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday could be drop-in priority time for tennis players.
If players of the respective sport do not show up for play, then the court would be on a firstcome, first-serve basis which is the generally accepted system used on co-located courts • Allows all players to play due to the rotation of play system for ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ so people are rotating consistently without long wait periods • Volunteer recruitment would be necessary for success in operating this co-located court.
Pending Council approval, staff would work to implement this pilot program to have the co-located courts begin this spring. The pilot program would last through this summer after which point staff would report on the results to the Parks, Recreation, and Beautification Commission and ultimately the Council to consider permanent changes.
FISCAL IMPACT
The estimated cost to co-locate the existing tennis court with pickleball courts is $20,000. This would include surface patching and paint color coding of pickleball court overlayed with tennis court lines and respective dimensions; signage, locking storage area, portable rolling nets, leaf blowing equipment, and other needed items such as equipment rental of paddles and pickleballs.
This cost will be absorbed in this year’s operating budget.
ALTERNATIVES
The City Council has the following alternative to consider:
1. Approve the recommendation of the Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission to start a pilot program to co-locate four pickleball courts at the Mentone Basin Park tennis court;
Staff Report: Pilot Program to Co-Locate Pickleball Courts at Mentone Basin Park Tennis Court Page 3 February 15, 2022
2. Do not approve this recommendation; or
3. Provide alternative direction to staff.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Mentone Basin Park Tennis Court
2. One Tennis Court with One Pickleball Court
3. One Tennis Court with Two Pickleball Courts
4. One Tennis Court with Four Pickleball Courts
5. Tennis and Pickleball Blended Court Lines
Attachment 1
Attachment 2
Attachment 3
Attachment 4
Attachment 5