Cedar Park planning commission tables special-use permit for nine outdoor pickleball courts at North Vista Ridge

The Cedar Park Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to table a special-use permit application to allow up to nine outdoor pickleball courts at 820 North Vista Ridge Boulevard.

Britton Havey, a city planner, presented the request and told commissioners the property is designated regional office/retail commercial and currently zoned General Business. Staff said the SUP application was for "outdoor commercial amusement, minor" and that the applicant proposed up to nine courts and had shown a conceptual 3,500-square-foot restaurant area on the plan. Havey told the commission the initial notice included live music but that the applicant removed the live-music component from the request prior to the hearing.

Adam Hughes, representing the property owner and the design team, said the courts would be a complementary outdoor component to existing indoor courts at a nearby facility and that the design would meet city architectural and fencing standards. Hughes said the fences would comply with city design requirements and that the final photometric plan and materials would be provided with the site-development review.

Residents and an apartment-area neighbor urged caution. Freddie Macau, who lives across from the site, said he was concerned about noise from play and asked the commission to consider hours similar to park facilities: "There is quite a bit of specific noise generated specifically from playing this game... If this was going to be used for this sport, it should follow the same rules as what is the use for parks." Other speakers raised similar concerns about late-night activity, lighting spill, and incomplete outreach to nearby apartment residents.

Commissioners asked staff and the applicant for details on hours of operation, food-service plans and the photometric plan that would limit light spill to property lines. City staff confirmed noise enforcement is handled under chapter 8 of the Cedar Park Code and is enforced at the property line, with the Police Department responsible for enforcement.

After discussion, Commissioner Wernicke moved to table item C-3 for further information; Commissioner Bradford Brown seconded. The motion passed on roll call vote, 6-0.

Why it matters

The SUP would enable a privately operated outdoor recreation facility in a commercial corridor near apartments and other businesses. Commissioners and staff said the issues raisedhours, lighting, noise mitigation and the scope of the proposed restaurantare appropriate to resolve before a final decision.

Next steps

Staff said the applicant will provide a photometric plan, clarify the restaurant/food-service proposal and propose hours of operation and other conditions that can be added to an SUP if the commission later advances the case.

Speakers quoted in this article are drawn from the meeting record.