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Resident criticizes centralized pickleball plan, urges neighborhood courts and low-cost park options
Summary
A resident urged the board to distribute pickleball courts across neighborhood parks rather than centralizing them and suggested low-cost community garden projects as an alternative way to activate parks.
A resident identified only as Henry spoke during public comment at the July 21 Orland Park board meeting and criticized the village’s approach to siting new pickleball courts, saying centralized complexes discourage use because of travel time and summer heat.
Henry said centralized court design was “ridiculous” and urged the village to locate courts in multiple neighborhood parks so players would not have to travel long distances. “If you're going to put these things in and pickleball was a good thing, then put courts in multiple parks that are in the neighborhoods,” Henry said. He also recommended low-cost park activations, such as community gardens modeled on examples in Naperville, which he said require little municipal spending beyond seasonal plowing.
Chair staff cut the timed public comment at three minutes and recorded the comments for the clerk’s office; the board did not take formal action during public comment. The clerk confirmed the comments would be added to the public record.
Why it matters: Park siting and amenities affect who uses facilities and how often. The resident argued neighborhood distribution would boost use and offered examples of low-cost community programming that can improve social cohesion without large capital outlays.
Next steps: Comments were submitted to the clerk for the public record; no directive or staff assignment was announced on this agenda item.
