After months of back and forth, the city of Prairie Village will get rid of some of the pickleball courts at Windsor Park in an effort to respond to residents’ complaints about noise.
The Prairie Village City Council on Monday voted 10-0 to resurface four of the six existing pickleball courts back into one tennis court that will still have pickleball lines, enough for up to three pickleball games to be played at once at Windsor Park.
Councilmembers Tyler Agniel and Cole Robinson were absent Monday.
The move Monday comes months after the council temporarily shut down four of the courts earlier this year in an attempt to mitigate noise coming from the courts and just more than a year since the six pickleball courts were first installed at Windsor Park, replacing two former tennis courts at the time.
Since resurfacing the court last summer into pickleball courts, Prairie Village residents and pickleball players have been at odds about the future of the game at Windsor Park.
Some residents have complained about the incessant “thwack” associated with pickleball, which has been an issue for others across Johnson County, as well as more broadly around the U.S. Residents near the Windsor Park courts have also complained about parking and traffic issues.
Pickleball players who use the Windsor Park courts had asked the city to keep the courts open at the park at 7200 Windsor St.
Other changes include time locks, updated rules
- The city council approved keeping two pickleball-only courts and resurfacing the other four courts back into a single tennis court with pickleball lines.
- Time locks will also be used at the park, limiting usage of the courts from 8 a.m. to dusk to address pickleball noise all day long, as reported by nearby residents.
- Language will also be added to the rules posted at the park to ask court users to be respectful of the neighborhood and other park patrons after some residents complained that pickleballers blared music and shouted obscenities at times.
“You’re never gonna please everyone”
- Prairie Village resident Priscilla Banker said the noise, traffic and parking congestion are her main concerns with the pickleball courts at Windsor Park.
- Banker, like some written public feedback the city received following a June 18 neighborhood meeting, pointed out that some of the license plates parked at Windsor associated with pickleball are from Missouri. (Later, during Monday’s city council meeting, Councilmember Ian Graves said Missourians are welcome at Prairie Village parks, as Prairie Village residents would be welcome at Missouri parks).
- “I have yet to see anyone with paddle ball equipment walking to or from the courts, signaling they would be nearby neighbors using the courts,” Banker said.
- In contrast, Prairie Village resident Jessica Keene said she and her family enjoy playing pickleball together at Windsor Park, and she asked the city council to open up the four other courts currently at the park.
- “As councilmembers, you’re never gonna please everyone, you guys know that already, that’s your job,” Keene said. “But you’re never gonna make everyone happy, but you have an opportunity here to make a majority of the people happy.”
Some councilmembers still worry about tennis with pickleball lines
- Councilmembers Chi Ngyuen and Dave Robinson expressed concern about adding another pickleball court on top of the resurfaced tennis court.
- Robinson made a motion to amend the original motion that would keep the new tennis court for tennis only to see how it impacts the park. That motion failed 7 to 3, with Councilmembers Inga Selders, Ngyuen and Robinson voting in favor.
- Mayor Eric Mikkelson said three pickleball courts at Windsor Park may exacerbate issues nearby residents are already dealing with, such as noise into the late evening.
- Others like Councilmembers Lori Sharp and Greg Shelton said they saw the original motion, which was ultimately approved unanimously, as a compromise between Windsor Park neighbors and pickleball players.
- Councilmember Terrence Gallagher, the city’s parks and recreation chair, suggested that the city explore expanding pickleball to other parks, like Harmon, Franklin or Weltner in the future.
Next steps:
- Public Works Director Keith Bredehoeft told the Post following the meeting that the work to resurface the court at Windsor Park will happen soon.
- The court will likely be closed for a few days during the resurfacing because the process is similar to that of repainting, he said.
Go deeper: Watch the entire conversation online here, starting at 1:07:24.
