61 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Struggle over pickleball players' access to Mayne Island tennis courts ends in B.C. Supreme Court

 

 

The court case revolved around a community centre decision to allow 21 hours of pickleball play each week

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ourts-1.6920721

 

 

 

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has dismissed a petition from a group of tennis players on Mayne Island who had tried to assert total control over two tennis courts in order to prevent people from playing pickleball there.

 

The nine petitioners argued that a group called the Mayne Island Tennis Association (MITA) had raised tens of thousands of dollars, cleared wooded land on the Mayne Island Community Centre property, and there built the two courts which they maintained for about 14 years.

 

They also entered into an agreement with the community centre to control the tennis courts. 

 

For years, MITA held exclusive use of the courts for tennis.

 

But as the popularity of pickleball grew on the island, a shift took place on the elected board of the Mayne Island Community Centre Society (MICCS): in 2021, five new members joined the board. According to the B.C. Supreme Court Decision, at least three of the five were also members of the local pickleball club.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 July 2023 - 08:55 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

There is no budget estimate yet for the Fowler Park project. Brownoff said district staff will put together a full report with costs that will be debated during the 2024 budget process.

 

Saanich has a total of 15 indoor pickleball courts at Saanich Commonwealth Place, Pearkes Recreation Centre and Cedar Hill Recreation Centre and another 13 outdoor courts, though two of those at Tolmie Park would be phased out when Fowler is established.

 

The Tolmie courts, like Todd Park in James Bay, have attracted noise complaints since they were established.

 

A regional study of pickleball future use funded by Victoria, Esquimalt and Saanich has been completed, and Saanich staff are preparing a report that Brownoff expects to see in the new year.

 

 

https://www.timescol...-demand-7914805

 

 

 

We can send a man to the moon but we can't make pickleball quiet somehow.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 December 2023 - 06:56 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Once it was the largest indoor salt-water swimming pool in the British Empire.

 

Now the Crystal Garden, built in 1925, is going to be home to two pickleball courts — at least temporarily. Starting Jan. 9 and running to Feb. 18, the city will provide the two courts using $60,000 from the city’s OUR DWTN revitalization program.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...-courts-7957124

 

 

 

$10,000 per week.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2004, the Provincial Capital Commission closed the conservation centre amid controversy. After $20 million in renovations, the new incarnation of the ­Crystal Garden, called the B.C. Experience, opened in 2006, but closed three months later in bankruptcy.

 

The building was then leased to the city, which spent nearly $10 million on renovations in 2008 to make it part of the Victoria Conference Centre. The Crystal Garden became city property in 2014 in a land swap that followed the dissolution of the Provincial Capital Commission.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 December 2023 - 03:46 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://www.timescol...-courts-7957124



$10,000 per week.

Does anyone think this stuff through? Now, if whatever the $60,000 is for can be moved to another facility, OK.

But if it's to clear the floor and paint markings and set up nets etc. when the Crystal will never become a full-time pickleball facility*, WHY are we spending this money?

It's not like we need a test of pickleball. We know how it works, indoors or out.


* hopefully it won't since we spent $30 million on it.

How many courts are they setting up, maybe 4? EDIT: 2.

$5,000 per week per court is $60 per hour per court, if they run 12 hours per day. What is the charge to play there?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 December 2023 - 06:30 AM.

[spanky123]

I think the better question is why are we paying close to $1M a year to operate a facility that does very little to any conference business? Obviously there is nothing planned during this period.

[Mike K.]

If it serves a better purpose as a pickleball court, why not? Maybe the conferences and special events were causing too much of a racket?

[Nparker]

I still see tents set up along the 900 block of Pandora. Why isn't the Crystal Garden being used as a homeless shelter?

[aastra]

 

Maybe the conferences and special events were causing too much of a racket?

 

Dude, get a grip.

[aastra]

 

If it serves a better purpose as a pickleball court, why not?

 

Methinks it could probably be made to work well as an all-weather playground/fitness place. Just give it an interesting designation. Something like "community centre".

[aastra]

 

If it serves a better purpose as a pickleball court, why not?

 

Interesting point, but do you have to be such a brat about it?

[aastra]

^plays on words re: tennis

[aastra]

The building's footprint is almost the same size as Esquimalt Rec Centre.

[aastra]

^No clever play on words there, just an observation. If we desperately need conveniently located community amenities, then why not use what you've got?

[Nparker]

Methinks it could probably be made to work well as an all-weather playground/fitness place. Just give it an interesting designation. Something like "community centre".

Maybe fill some of the lower areas with water and turn it into a pool.

[Mike K.]

^No clever play on words there, just an observation.

 

Fair game, though.

[aastra]

 

Fair game, though.

 

Right? Sometimes we can be so set in our ways it's as if we were mired in clay.

[Victoria Watcher]

North Saanich dog owners concerned proposed pickleball courts could replace popular off-leash park

https://www.cheknews...h-park-1185157/

[Victoria Watcher]

Work to establish six new purpose-built pickleball courts, a tennis court and other amenities at Fowler Park near Cordova Bay Golf Course is expected to get underway this summer.

 

On Monday night, Saanich council unanimously endorsed a proposal agreed upon by the community and staff to turn the park into a recreational hub.

 

Coun. Judy Brownoff, chair of the district’s natural areas, parks and trails committee, said the proposal is in response to the surging popularity of pickleball.

 

She noted a recent tournament at Pearkes Recreation Centre filled up with applicants in three minutes and had a wait list of more than 300 would-be players.

 

 

https://www.timescol...er-park-8087012

[Victoria Watcher]

Plan to move pickleball courts in North Saanich ignites furor

The plan was to shut down the Wain Road Park courts due to noise concerns, but an alternate location at Cy Hampson Park is getting a thumbs down from residents


https://www.timescol...s-furor-8107402

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 January 2024 - 04:25 AM.

[aastra]

 

The association took sound readings while the courts were in use on two occasions, measuring an average noise level of 47 decibels at the closest neighbour’s property — below the noise level associated with heat pumps, Watson said.

The association suggests adding acoustic fencing to the court’s perimeter fence, at an estimated cost of about $30,000, to reduce sound from the court by about 50 per cent, Watson said.

 

 

Seriously, this is what people in the 21st century are complaining about and spending money to address?

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