The following is from a July 7, 2023 press release from the City of Piedmont Recreation Department:
As a five-month trial of full-time pickleball play at Beach Courts nears its end, Piedmont’s Recreation Commission is expected to make a recommendation regarding the future use of the courts at their July 19 meeting.
The City has budgeted for Beach courts, which have long been in poor condition, to be repaired and re-striped at the end of the trial, which began on March 1st and is scheduled to conclude at the end of July. The trial was initiated by the Recreation Commission with the intention of helping the City better understand the full scope of pickleball demand in Piedmont.
The City anticipates bringing the Commission’s recommendation to City Council for consideration at their August 7th meeting. Depending on the outcome of the trial, the City Council may choose to re-stripe the courts for tennis only, for pickleball only, or for shared use.
Commission will make recommendation based on safety, noise, and court utilization
The Recreation Commission has actively monitored the trial since it began on March 1, discussing the Beach courts at length during their April and May meetings. The City and Commission have received robust community feedback spanning a broad range of perspectives, including more than 300 email communications, nearly 100 in-person comments at public meetings, and over 800 responses to a recent community survey. In addition to community input, the City has been collecting quantitative data throughout the trial. Players are asked to check-in via QR code when they arrive at the courts, which helps staff assess usage patterns. Counts of traffic volume and parking availability across different times of day place court visits in context with other activities in the Linda Beach neighborhood. To understand noise impacts to the surrounding area, the City engaged an acoustical consulting firm to study noise levels both during and outside of pickleball play hours. The noise study is available for download on the City’s website.
In April, the Recreation Commission created a subcommittee charged with studying all available data and input received. Based on their review, the subcommittee will provide a report to the Commission assessing the trial according to three factors: safety, noise, and the best utilization of the courts.
Provide feedback at the meeting or by email
Community members may speak in person at the meeting, which will be held in City Council chambers at City Hall (120 Vista Avenue) at 7:30pm on Wednesday, July 19. In advance of the meeting, community members can send comments on the trial by email to BeachPickleballTrial@piedmont.ca.gov.
More information on the Beach courts pickleball trial is available at piedmont.ca.gov/pickleball.