Residents report volleyball use at tennis courts; parks staff to resurface Maplewood courts and explore locking nets

At the June 4 meeting the Park Board of Commissioners discussed resident complaints that volleyball players are taking down tennis nets at Maplewood Park and placing volleyball nets on the tennis courts, which has in some cases led to damage or disruption of tennis play.

Commissioners said they received two email complaints describing the issue. Parks staff said a contractor has been hired to resurface two tennis courts at Maplewood and that, once resurfaced, the courts will be restricted to tennis only. A parks staff member identified as Charlie said, "We're going to put in Spanish and English. There will be no volleyball or any type of play on here except for tennis. Now we can lock them..." and that he would evaluate locking mechanisms or additional cables to make it harder to remove nets.

Board members discussed trade-offs of locking nets (which would also limit legitimate tennis players' access) and possible removals or tampering. Staff agreed to inspect the courts and consider reinforcement or other measures to reduce unauthorized net changes, and to monitor activity going forward.

The board also noted a positive turnout observed at newly completed courts in Kennedy Park and said the contractor work at Maplewood should improve the playing surface.