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Beach Haven council to draft ordinance limiting pickleball play on tennis courts
Summary
After testimony from a longtime tennis attendant, the Beach Haven Borough Council agreed to direct staff to draft an ordinance that would give attendants and police clearer authority to prevent pickleball play on tennis courts; a resident urged a broader 'intended use' rule for facilities.
Anne Pascasse, the borough’s tennis attendant, told the council she has worked the courts for about 10 years and described repeated incidents this past summer in which out-of-town pickleball players ignored signage, lowered nets and damaged equipment. “We were over two weeks without it, and it happened to be Fourth of July weekend,” Pascasse said, describing a broken crank that removed a court from service during peak season.
Council members debated whether to craft a tennis-specific ordinance or a broader rule that would define each facility’s intended use. Resident Sue Sharpie recommended a single, umbrella ordinance that would protect multiple facilities—"you can't skateboard on the basketball court," she said—rather than pass a separate law for each case. The clerk told the council she would draft language for council review and that any ordinance would come back for a public hearing before adoption.
Why it matters: council members said an ordinance is the only way to give staff the authority to call police and have enforcement backstopped by local law. The clerk noted that signage and rules already exist but that without ordinance language staff lack a clear legal basis to ask police to remove offenders.
Council next steps: staff will prepare draft ordinance language and schedule the required public hearing. No vote on an ordinance was taken at the Jan. 29 meeting.
