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Simsbury opens Tarafill Park pickleball courts after floodway constraints lead to rehab approach
Summary
Town officials converted existing courts to pickleball with an asphalt rehab to avoid building in the floodway; courts were slightly reduced in size to stay within existing fences and opened after multi‑year planning and FEMA discussions.
Simsbury has opened new pickleball courts at Tarafill Park after the town modified the design to comply with floodway restrictions and FEMA rules.
Tom Roy, public works director, said the former tennis courts lie in a regulatory floodway that generally prohibits new construction. To comply, the town removed existing asphalt and laid down new asphalt surfaces rather than building new post‑tension concrete courts, which the town believed would be treated as new construction under floodway rules.
"We ground out all of the existing asphalt from the tennis court and put down new asphalt tennis courts," Roy said, describing the approach as a rehabilitation rather than new construction. He said the town also accepted slightly smaller court dimensions to remain within the existing fence line and worked with local pickleball players to adjust the layout.
Roy said discussions with FEMA and state floodplain rules affected the timeline; the project began about three years ago and encountered regulatory steps before the alternate design allowed construction to proceed. Parks and recreation and local volunteers were involved in design input, Roy said, and public comment after opening suggested heavy usage.
Town staff said the courts are intended as a rehabilitation that reuses existing fencing and minimizes new encroachment into the floodway. Funding sources were not specified during the interview.
