The Atherton City Council on July 16 approved the Park & Recreation Committee’s recommendation to increase pickleball capacity at Holbrook Palmer Park.

Staff presentation and usage: Recreation staff reported the park’s pilot pickleball program began in January and has seen steady growth; the two existing pickleball courts are now used more than 200 hours per month. Staff described current pickleball hours as mornings daily until noon, evenings after 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and all day Sunday. Park and Rec reviewed several options and recommended a short‑term step to double court availability on Court 1 by repainting it as four overscribed pickleball courts while retaining the underlying tennis surface.

The council accepted that recommendation and approved a companion approach for longer‑term capacity: staff and council will pursue private donations to remove and replace the handball courts with two dedicated pickleball courts if funding is secured. Park staff provided rough order‑of‑magnitude costs in the staff report; no town capital appropriation was approved at this meeting.

Instruction and reservations: Because demand has been high, the council allowed pickleball instruction going forward but set operational limits. Instructors will be required to obtain a town business license and to provide proof of commercial insurance; the council directed that instructors should not be permitted to reserve court time for instruction in a manner that monopolizes available reservations (the prevailing interpretation from council discussion was that a resident key holder should manage reservations and that staff would require insurance documentation for instructors). Staff will work with Player Capital (the on‑site reservation manager) to refine the reservation process so walk‑on and reservation conflicts are reduced; Player Capital had agreed to reassign reservations among tennis courts where possible to accommodate walk‑on pickleball when Court 1 is not otherwise reserved for tennis.

Public input and concerns: Local tennis and pickleball players and residents addressed council. Walter Robinson, who helped convene the community dialogue, supported the four‑court restriping on Court 1 and urged a proactive donation campaign to build permanent courts. Some council members expressed concern for balancing tennis access, and staff noted Court 1’s dual‑use restriping preserves underlying tennis lines and allows a flexible, low‑cost near‑term increase in pickleball capacity.

Council action: A motion to adopt the Park & Rec recommendation — restripe Court 1 to four overscribed pickleball courts in the near term, pursue private funding to convert the handball courts to two permanent pickleball courts in the longer term, and permit instructor activity subject to business‑license and insurance requirements and reservation limits — was moved, seconded and passed unanimously. The council directed staff to coordinate with Player Capital to improve reservation workflows and to return to council if donor funding necessitates capital approvals.

Attribution: factual descriptions and quotes are taken from the July 16 council meeting presentation and the Park & Rec materials introduced by staff.