Notes from meeting with Davis Parks & Recreation

Date: February 26, 2019

Attendees: Dale Sumersille, Scott Adler, Liane Torricer-Adler, John Cook

Things discussed

1. A description of the new initiative by Davis pickleball players to form a participatory and representative group.

2. The group’s concerns

   1. That knowledge of it’s image and the needs of the Davis diverse pickleball community was not accurate

   2. The information that was available had not been assembled in a systematic way,

   3. Reviewed the survey information with Dale

      1. This information included:

         1. 43 responses to date

         2. Where do people live

            1. 81.4% of the respondents live in Davis.

            2. 11.6% Woodland.

            3. 7% other locations.

         3. Weekends and nights are peak periods for court congestion.

            1. 81% play on weekend

            2. 70% play on weekdays

            3. 40% at night

         4. The average is 2.6 sessions per week,

            1. with a high of 6 sessions and a low of 0.

         5. Walnut is the most popular location: 67%

            1. Covell: 38%

            2. Woodland Senior Center: 33%

         6. New court location preference:

            1. Redwood Park: 53%

            2. Slide Hill: 24%

            3. No preference: 19%

         7. Pickleball Group membership:

            1. 79% would join

            2. 65% would be willing to pay membership

            3. 19% would not join

         8. Pickleball Group membership:

            1. 79% would join

            2. 65% would be willing to pay membership

            3. 19% would not join

         9. Tennis questions:

            1. 74% have played tennis,

            2. 9% are current tennis players

3. Outreach had been made to the Davis Tennis Club (DTC)

   1. Result was a positive dialog about the complementary goals and interests of both sports.

   2. Further, DTC agrees that pickleball needs more courts and is willing to work with us on compromise solutions.

   3. US Tennis Association’s (USTA) recent acknowledgement of pickleball supports our view that pickleball is a natural evolution of players who can no longer play tennis due to physical strain, but want to remain active.

   4. Orange ball/youth-size tennis court (which is slightly longer and narrower than a pickleball court without a kitchen line) is something USTA is pushing to encourage the introduction to more young tennis players.

4. Dale’s understanding of the current state of pickleball in Davis.

   1. Her comments:

      1. There is a competitive group at Walnut (she described as “Katie’s group”) and another group at Covell.

   2. Our response:

      1. The group represents the general community of pickleball players across the current locations

      2. There are all levels of players at Walnut

      3. There is growing day and night participation at Walnut. Peak periods are weekend mornings, Monday and Thursday nights (often more than 30 player on 4 courts)

   3. The culture of pickleball is different from tennis - it’s not accurate to think of us as “tennis lite.”

      1. Faster games

      2. Rotating partners

      3. More social

         1. Frequent out-of-town drop-ins fostered by welcoming culture everywhere pickleball is played.

         2. Brings in commerce with players gathering for meals in town after games.

5. The benefits of forming a non-profit for the group

   1. Enables execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City.

      1. Allow the group to decide and post (with City’s approval)

         1. Restriction of court use during designated times (without special arrangements)

            1. Open play hours

            2. League and other organized play times

         2. Rules could include

            1. Court etiquette

            2. Rotation

            3. Other items we deem important.

6. We need more space

   1. Dale noted

      1. Slide Hill is the plan to meet our needs

   2. We noted

      1. The need for lights on new court space(as identified in survey), which Slide HIll does not currently provide.

      2. Slide Hill does not provide geographic diversity (i.e. no courts in Central or West Davis)

         1. Covell is the only court on the West side of town and it is in bad shape

      3. We are currently maxing out 2 nights each week and there is interest in expanding to additional nights. Due to work schedules, this is important recreation time for these people.   

      4. Adding lights to the Slide Hill park plan

         1. Dale will get an estimate for lights at Slide Hill.

         2. Dale noted

            1. There is no money in the budget for lights

            2. Would require fundraising on our part

            3. Potential neighborhood concerns: studies will need to be done

            4. Planning and other approvals could be needed​​​​​

7. The suggestion of Redwood Park

   1. Dale noted

      1. Concerns about parking

      2. Update from Dale: DJUSD uses the courts during and after school hours

   2. We noted

      1. There are similar concerns about parking at Slide Hill, especially during the summer when the pool is open.

      2. Parking at Redwood is generally an issue only during the school drop-off and pick-up times (8:30 AM and 3:00 PM).

      3. There is a 5-8 car 90 minute parking area directly in front of the courts

      4. No parking restrictions across the street

      5. Approximately at least 10-15 car non-restricted parking on Linden Lane with a park entrance path.

      6. The school is only open 180 days a year.

      7. Our peak times are nights and weekends - this minimizes the parking issue.

   3. Dale noted

      1. Redwood has “backyard” lighting that is not adequate.

   4. We noted

      1. Upgrading existing lights might be easier and cheaper than installing lights from “scratch” at Slide Hill

      2. Light ordinance, and neighborhood studies have probably already been done (i.e. grandfathered) at Redwood since it is already an lighted, activity area..

8. Indoor courts in Davis would be desirable since many people play at Woodland or other indoor courts (Vacaville, Folsom, Rocklin, Elk Grove…)

   1. We asked about the City Hall gym

   2. She advised us that the gym recently suffered a roof malfunction and is now in need of a new roof, which will unfortunately take funds from the recreation “repair/replace” budget

9. Discussed Walnut Court 5

   1. Walnut courts will be re-built as part of Phase 2? (see below)

   2. This will include converting Court 5 to a “sport court”:

   3. Lines for Orange Ball Youth court on top of tennis lines (part of the DTC grant money)

   4. A backboard (possibly two) for practice

   5. We noted that a barrier would need to be placed next to court 5 so as to not interfere with pickleball - Dale agreed

10. Offering beginner classes through the recreation department and adult education calendar.

    1. The group would provide instructors & equipment for short introduction to pickleball courses.

    2. There may be limitations to doing this: primarily insurance as we would be contractors providing the classes.

Things Dale shared

1. The City Council is authorizing $1.25 million in funds across multiple phases.

   1. Phase 1 is “repair and replacement” of current court space

   2. Winter rains the gym have caused structural roof failure. It’s retrofit will now  be a part of this budget.

   3. The cost of one tennis court replacement is approx $120,000

   4. The cost of 4 Pickleball courts is approx $140,000

   5. Update from Dale: Davis Tennis Club and the City will submit an application for a $50,000 grant request from the USTA to promote youth tennis (this has not been done yet pending  the City Council approval for the Sport Court resurfacing court project phase 1).

   6. Because of this contribution, DTC has been a part of the planning of Phase 1

      1. Includes the resurfacing of courts in 8 locations

      2. 6 courts will be lined for both traditional and “junior tennis” (which is slightly longer and narrower than a pickleball court).

         1. One at Walnut

         2. One at Covell

   7. The schedule and order of court  “repair and replacement” work is not finalized.

   8. Construction expected to begin in late Fall 2019,

   9. The courts will not be ready for use before Spring 2020.

2. City is hiring a consultant as part of the Sports Complex Task Force.

   1. This is an opportune time to add pickleball requirements to the plans.

      1. Dale has added the group to the list of Task Force interested parties

      2. Indoor youth basketball is a major driver for this Task Force.

      3. Dual lined pickleball and basketball courts were discussed

      4. Basketball and pickleball have complementary and non-conflicting use schedules during the school year.

Things Dale will get back to us on:

Slide Hill

• Estimate for light installation

• Requirements for neighborhood concerns studies,

planning and other approvals.

Offering beginner classes through the City

• Requirements

Conclusion

• We concluded the meeting by agreeing that this had been a positive productive dialog.

• The group is in the process of organizing and we would be the near-term representatives of the group until further notice.

• We emphasized that we are probably a little too small at this time to form a non-profit, but we have a “chicken and egg” problem. Without more courts it will be hard to expand our pickleball playing population.

• Dale understands and said she looks forward to working with us.