Chase council seeks public input on converting school tennis courts to pickleball

Chase council is asking residents to weigh in on a proposal from local resident Dick Leppky to convert two tennis courts at Chase Secondary School into three pickleball courts. During a Feb. 10 meeting council heard the conversion plan and Chief Administrative Officer Joni Heinrich recommended the Village run a community survey before council makes its final decision. Mayor David Lepsoe told council, "We have to make sure both groups are accommodated. We don't want to kick one group off in favour of another group."

The conversion pitch is the latest move by Leppky; in June 2024 he proposed building courts east of the Art Holding Memorial Arena in a plan estimated to cost roughly $200,000 that council did not pursue. Leppky has returned with the school-court conversion concept that would change two existing tennis spaces into three dedicated pickleball courts, but council has not released a cost estimate specific to the Chase Secondary proposal.

Voices at the Chase meeting included longtime tennis players who objected to the change. An unnamed female resident told council, "Being avid tennis players, my husband and I feel the proposed changes are unfair and rather short sighted, given the many tourists and visitors in our area spring to fall, some of whom may wish to play tennis, and in light of the fact that there are also area residents who play the game." That same resident said she suggested "one tennis court and one pickleball court" as a compromise to accommodate different users and "avoid discrimination."

Similar conflicts have surfaced in other communities, illustrating the local stakes. In Los Angeles' Highland Park neighborhood a city plan to convert a single tennis court at Herman Park into four pickleball courts drew packed public comment and a petition with more than 1,800 signatures, submitted by Cynthia Su. Senior director Juan Aynat told the meeting, "We're asking communities for both sides to be patient with us and to be understanding. We're trying to identify spaces for everybody."

Bishop, California offers a different approach: the City of Bishop is resurfacing courts at City Park and has striped the lower courts for both tennis and pickleball while leaving the upper courts painted tennis-only. Dan McElroy, Director of the Community Services Department, reported the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended dual striping, while members of the tennis community urged preserving tennis-only courts. Irene Yamashita of Bishop Pickleball said, "The demand for pickleball courts is really increasing in Bishop and we have tourists that are coming through town, and they find out we have pickleball, and they come and join us for a few hours or even days." She added that additional courts would "provide for the diverse recreational needs in the community in an equitable way."

Nationally, pickleball has grown fast enough that many municipalities are deciding whether to convert or re-stripe tennis facilities, and debates have included concerns about court availability and noise. The sport's first tournament was held in 1976 and today pickleball is played across all 50 U.S. states as well as in Australia and Asia.

For Chase the next concrete step is the community survey recommended by CAO Joni Heinrich; council has not yet recorded a final vote. The Castanet reports do not name the woman quoted at the meeting, do not show whether the School District has been approached, and do not include a cost estimate for converting the Chase Secondary courts, leaving those as outstanding questions for council before any work proceeds.