Seattle Plan to Remove 36 Pickleball Courts Sparks Player Backlash

Seattle pickleball players are staring at a smaller map of the city. The draft Outdoor Racquet Sports Strategy would eliminate 36 outdoor pickleball courts, drop the citywide total from 92 to 56, and remove 32 shared courts across seven neighborhoods while tennis keeps 107 courts.

That is why the backlash is landing as a supply-and-access fight, not a routine parks argument. Seattle Parks and Recreation says the plan is meant to address dual use, pickleball open play and the future of racquet sports, but for players the practical effect is simpler: fewer places to get on court, fewer off-peak windows for drop-in games, and more pressure on reservations at the same time the sport keeps growing. In Seattle’s system, which already includes dedicated pickleball courts, dual-striped tennis and pickleball courts, and a few shared with basketball or badminton, the city also says only dual-striped tennis courts may be used for pickleball when reservable tennis courts are not otherwise booked.

The draft was released for public comment on April 6, with an online survey opening April 16 and a Seattle Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners meeting on April 23. More in-person sessions are set for May 4 at Bitter Lake Community Center, May 7 at Garfield Community Center, and May 9 at Van Asselt Community Center. The final strategy will be published after engagement ends and then implemented.

The proposal also lands after a year of tightening around noise and court management. On September 15, 2025, Seattle Parks put updated hours in place at Gilman Playground, Laurelhurst Playfield and Mt. Baker Park, based on noise studies with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections. Those courts are now limited to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and City-observed holidays, and violations can trigger temporary lock installation for at least 30 days, with repeated violations leading to permanent locks.

Seattle has already tried other ways to split the difference. Its 2024 update created a dedicated pickleball hub at Green Lake Park East and a dedicated tennis hub at Lower Woodland Park, launched a quiet-paddles-only pilot at the Belltown courts, and said it would add noise-reducing fence technology at Miller Park and Laurelhurst Park. It also said it would not move ahead with proposed pickleball courts at Lincoln Park until a better site was identified and agreed on.

Players are organizing against the cut. The Seattle Metro Pickleball Association says its petition had 2,487 supporters at the time of posting and is pushing for a citywide pause and an alternative plan that adds access instead of taking it away. Seattle’s 2021-2022 Outdoor Pickleball Study, backed by $50,000 from the Seattle Park District and built on a 2019 pilot study, drew 3,378 survey responses. That history now frames the central question in Seattle: whether the city’s court strategy matches the way residents actually use the space.