Some pickleball nets are coming down at Prairie Village’s Windsor Park. At least, for now.
After months of debating how to handle noise coming from six new pickleball courts at Windsor Park, the Prairie Village City Council last week voted 11 to 0 to temporarily remove nets on four of the courts.
Later this year, the city plans to see how, if at all, having fewer pickleball courts impacts neighboring residents’ noise concerns — and potentially take further measures, including removing nets at the remaining two courts, if necessary.
The nets will remain down through June
- Public Works Director Keith Bredehoeft told the city council last week that keeping the nets down through June takes the city through the spring and some of the summer, which is prime pickleball season.
- This allows city staff to evaluate whether fewer courts — and fewer people using the courts — addresses neighbors’ noise concerns or if something else will need to be done.
- Bredehoeft said city staff can commit to proactively touching base with neighbors of Windsor Park about their thoughts on the temporary change.
- The city council will get an update on pickleball after the trial period ends in June.
City has also considered sound-dampening panels, restriping
- In January, the city council considered purchasing sound dampening panels in order to help block noise coming from the courts. Projected cost estimates for such panels has come it at well over $20,000.
- The city has also considered restriping — essentially, repainting — the pickleball courts to turn them back into tennis courts. (Research has shown that noise from tennis produces sound at lower decibel levels than pickleball.)
- Though the city council last week ultimately opted for taking down the nets for now, both adding sound dampening panels and restriping the courts are still possible courses of action in the future.
- City staff plan to remove the nets and put in some temporary fencing to signal to park patrons that only two of the courts are open. (As of Monday morning, nets at all six courts were still up.)
Council wanted to mimic a potential long-term solution
- Although the city’s parks and recreation committee recommended removing the nets at only three of the courts, the city council opted to remove nets at four of the six courts.
- Councilmembers Dave Robinson, Terry O’Toole and Lauren Wolf (who is the parks and recreation committee chair), said keeping two courts mimics a potential long-term solution of restriping part of the playing surface back to tennis courts.
- City staff back in January presented the idea of restriping four of the six pickleball courts into one tennis court and keeping two pickleball courts.
- The city council approved temporarily removing nets at four of the six courts in a vote of 11 to 0, with Councilmember Nick Reddell absent.
Go deeper: Watch the city council’s discussion online here, starting at 2:22.
