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Atherton moves to ease pickleball reservations and asks staff to study clay-court conversion
Summary
After hours of resident testimony, the council directed staff to ask vendor Player Capital Tennis to shift reservation-switching to about 3–4 days in advance, to draft a no-show policy, and to return with design and funding options for converting the underused clay court to a hard court.
Atherton — The Town Council gave staff direction aimed at easing access to pickleball at Holbrook Palmer Park and asked for a study of converting the park’s clay court to a hard court.
After staff described the trial pickleball program and Park & Rec committee suggestions, members of the public urged broader access. “You can get 16 people on 1 tennis court for pickleball,” resident Kat Westover told the council, arguing the sport makes efficient use of limited space.
Council discussion focused on two near-term actions: change the reservation-switch timing so reservations default to pickleball if a tennis booking is not claimed several days in advance, and explore a clay-court conversion. Staff said Player Capital Tennis currently shifts unreserved tennis slots to pickleball on short notice; the Park & Rec recommendation was to make that switch 3–4 days in advance to give pickleball players more planning time.
On the clay court, presenters and residents said the surface is infrequently used and costly to maintain; one speaker estimated construction costs between $70,000 and $100,000 if privately funded, with town-managed work likely costing substantially more because of prevailing-wage rules. As one council member put it, converting the clay court “is a no brainer” for expanding available playtime, but funding and procurement rules remain to be clarified.
The council directed staff to work with Player Capital Tennis on the reservation change, to publicize the change to keyholders, to draft a no-show policy, and to return with a proposal outlining design options, cost estimates and funding strategies for a possible clay-court conversion (including privately funded or town-managed options). Staff noted that if the town manages construction it will need to competitively bid design and construction services and that prevailing-wage thresholds could apply.
What’s next: Staff will coordinate with the vendor to implement the 3–4–day switch proposal, update the town’s reservation guidance and return with a design and funding proposal for the clay-court conversion for council consideration.
