{"id":48395,"date":"2016-12-13T18:31:28","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T01:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?p=48395"},"modified":"2017-01-07T16:23:50","modified_gmt":"2017-01-07T23:23:50","slug":"pickleball-in-a-pickle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2016\/12\/13\/pickleball-in-a-pickle\/","title":{"rendered":"Pickleball in a pickle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the three sites being considered for pickleball courts at the Idyllwild County Park is pictured here. This potential site, along the creek where logs are currently stored, is farthest from occupied residences. Kyla Brown, Riverside County Regional Park and Open Space District recreation bureau chief, stressed that plans are still evolving, the exact site has not been chosen and any construction is subject to a California Environmental Quality Act review.
Photo by Marshall Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pickleball, one of the fastest-growing new sports in the U.S., has found a footing in Idyllwild. However, finding a permanent home for pickleball courts and players may prove harder. An online poll of Idyllwild residents revealed confusion over facts and growing opposition to planned installation of pickleball courts at the Idyllwild County Park.<\/p>\n

As background, on Thursday, Nov. 3, the Riverside County Park District Advisory Commission authorized building the courts in a yet-to-be-determined location at the county park in Idyllwild. \u201cThree courts will be installed at the county park, as a park district amenity,\u201d said Riverside County Regional Park and Open Space District Recreation Bureau Chief Kyla Brown at the time.<\/p>\n

The proposed courts at the county park are not part of either tax-funded County Service Area 36 community recreation or the Idyllwild Community Center. As Brown specified, they are intended to be a county-maintained recreation amenity. Funding for the courts is to come from two sources \u2014 $25,000 from the Park and Open Space District and $20,000 from several ICC donors.<\/p>\n

ICC\u2019s involvement with pickleball was initially gratuitous. Pine Cove resident and sports enthusiast Barry Wallace proposed to ICC to allow already-constructed tennis courts on the ICC site to be used occasionally as pickleball courts with Wallace providing the expertise to construct provisional courts. ICC acquiesced. \u201cMy goal from the very beginning was to support a game that many on the Hill could play,\u201d said Wallace. \u201cI put the courts in on an existing tennis court knowing that plans for ICC construction would remove those courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that the provisional courts on the ICC site had attracted 30 to 50 players on a regular basis and that ICC construction would remove those courts, Wallace proposed to CSA 36 recreation, currently managed by the Park and Open Space District, to have permanent courts installed at the county park site.<\/p>\n

With the Nov. 3 approval of the courts by the commission, public controversy began to grow. Few residents had attended the CSA 36 meetings at which the courts had been discussed and approved.<\/p>\n

Idyllwild resident Charles Phelan started an online poll regarding the courts since many, like Phelan, who walk their dogs in the county park, had not heard that pickleball courts had been considered and approved for installation at the county park. \u201cI put the poll out there because no one I had talked to knew about the courts,\u201d said Phelan. \u201cI thought, \u2018hold on a minute,\u2019 let\u2019s just find out the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The poll revealed confusion and misunderstanding about the process and underlying facts.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Dec. 12, in response to Town Crier inquiries, Brown offered clarification as to the current status of the project and facts at this point:<\/p>\n