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City outlines pickleball expansion, park security and e-bike enforcement steps
Summary
City staff said restriping and new courts will expand pickleball capacity, an Orange County Sheriff's deputy will patrol weekends at the Lake Forest Sports Park, and staff plan to repurpose private security funds to bolster park security.
Deputy City Manager McGovern told the Community Services Commission on April 2 that the city is rapidly expanding pickleball capacity and taking multiple steps to counter reckless e-bike behavior at city parks.
McGovern said staff completed restriping at Baker Ranch Community Park and expected similar striping at Foothill Borrego and Pittsford parks "by the end of the month," which he said will more than double the amount of playable pickleball court surface in town. He also said staff will soon put out a construction bid for two permanent pickleball courts at El Toro Park.
On park security and e-bikes, McGovern told the commission the city has stationed an Orange County Sheriff's Department officer at Lake Forest Sports Park on weekend days "until further notice" following resident complaints and an incident publicized by OCSD. He said staff receive about 40 to 50 OCSD calls per month related to e-bike issues and that enforcement currently yields about five to six citations monthly; McGovern said 80 to 90 percent of the time, officers or staff responding to complaints cause the riders to stop or leave the area.
To increase coverage, McGovern said the city plans to reassign some private contract security resources previously used for illegal street vendor enforcement to park security; the vendors issue has largely subsided, he said, freeing resources for parks. Staff also plan to meet with concerned residents next week to solicit ideas for improving enforcement and will report back to the commission.
Commissioners asked for more regular data in commission packets. Commissioner Jones specifically asked whether monthly service-call summaries from OCSD could be included in future packets to show park-related calls and enforcement outcomes; McGovern agreed to provide a summary after the planned resident meeting.
McGovern also reminded the commission of an upcoming community event, Bunny Blast, set for April 12 at 11 a.m. at El Toro Park; he reiterated that two pickleball courts are planned at El Toro Park and that the city will transition certain volleyball courts into permanent pickleball courts in coming work under the capital program.
No new ordinance, budget appropriation or formal policy change was adopted at the meeting; the transcript records staff updates, questions from commissioners and requests for follow-up information.
