(Slide with schematic plan for Lincoln Park pickleball courts, shown at city’s online meeting)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
If Seattle Parks managers have given any thought to reconsidering the plan for pickleball courts in Lincoln Park, it wasn’t on display during Monday night’s online meeting about that and other area projects.
Two-thirds of the hour-long meeting was spent on recapping and explaining the plan – basically the first 20 minutes and last 20 minutes, with the other project updates inbetween, (Those were detailed in our first two reports on the meeting, here and here.) First, Parks and Recreation Superintendent AP Diaz spent most of his opening remarks on the pickleball project, after an introduction from the consultant who facilitated the meeting (which had almost 150 people signed into the video feed).
Diaz rhapsodized about Lincoln Park’s attributes – from “majestic trees” to Colman Pool (whose short season, he hinted, may be revisited) – before veering into an explanation of why they didn’t hold an in-person meeting: “It’s a busy time of year, darker, colder, (wanted it to be) as accessible as possible (to) as many people as possible.” As for why have a meeting at all, Diaz said it was for updates on “everything that’s going on,” to “try to get on the same page with these projects” and to “dispel rumors and myths” with “accurate information.”
The points he stressed toward that goal:
-No trees will be removed for the project
-No lights “at this time” (he cited both a lack of funding and dark-sky concerns)
-Parks Department crew members will maintain the courts
-Parks has met with state Fish and Wildlife who “found no jurisdictional intervention was warranted at this time”
-Parks “has met with and will continue to work with” bird advocates
The superintendent acknowledged that pickleball is loud but said “mitigation” could be considered such as “acoustic fencing” and quieter equipment (noting that local engineers are working on quieter pickleball equipment).
But before he went into all that, he explained that the department “has endeavored to rise to the challenge of accommodating” pickleball because of its skyrocketing popularity. He said Parks has added more than 80 courts but most are “dual striped” with tennis and they’ve been looking to add more pickleball-only facilities.
So why this location? He called it a “great opportunity” and said its current use as a maintenance location was always “meant to be temporary,” saying that even before the pickleball idea surfaced, “we were looking for ways to move (Parks) trucks out of the park and activate (the location).” The fact it’s “already paved” is a bonus, he said, along with its location “near other active recreational offerings” and away from homes and businesses. And he reiterated a point Parks spokespeople have stressed previously, that this is a “major maintenance project,” not a capital project, so an environmental review is not required, and he said the City Attorney’s Office has been consulted to ensure that’s a correct interpretation.
Superintendent Diaz concluded by declaring that “both active and passive recreation (are) important” as well as that “no projects will please all of the people all of the time.”
Since we’ve already summarized the other non-pickleball-project reports presented by his deputies, we’ll note here that there was no live Q&A during the meeting, The consultant moderator (Andrea Petzel from Broadview Planning) put up several live “polls,” but none were along the lines of yes/no on the pickleball courts or any other project – they were more in the vein of “What’s your favorite West Seattle park?” and “What are the top three attributes of (an off-leash area)?” But Zoom chat was available for those signed in, and while the consultant warned that questions/comments there wouldn’t be addressed in real time, they would become part of the public-comment record. (While we had to stay focused on the presentations, a WSB team member told us the chat window was fairly fiery.)
At about 6:40 pm, it was back to the pickleball courts, this time with Deputy Superintendent Andy Sheffer. He had graphics, including the schematic shown atop this report, and others showing the location of the site and what percentage of LP acreage it represented (two-tenths of a percent). He also noted its proximity to the upper-park restrooms.
Continuing to list site attributes, Sheffer said the existing paved pad would not require “an elaborate top coating,” just some asphalt as well as joints and fabric. He said the paved area would actually be slightly reduced, by 1,200 square feet. The items/materials stored there would be moved to the Southwest Crew HQ, he said. Meantime, Sheffer added that they want to collaborate with “wildlife constituents” and figure out how to “mitigate possible noise impact” – that would possibly include the quieter pickleball equipment Diaz had briefly mentioned; Sheffer said mechanical-engineering students at the University of Washington are “actively working on a solution.”
That led to more “poll” questions, including “What’s your main mitigation priority?” (The results did not linger long on the screen and we were toggling with our story-notes window, but “birds/wildlife” appeared to be winning.”)
Then came the only real nod to questions that were asked in advance – as had been requested by Parks when the meeting was announced – with answers reiterating mostly what Diaz had said earlier, including that trees would not be removed for the conversion and “no lights (planned) at this time,” and that reasons for choosing this site included its distance from homes, reusing “existing impervious surface” and saving money, and that it’s situated in the “recreational area” in LP’s “core.” He also reiterated that it’s a maintenance project, not a capital project. Here are the Q/A slides we screengrabbed:
The briefing did not include information on when Parks planned to resume work at the site – four weeks have passed since a two-week pause was announced – so we’re following up on that and will add the reply when we get it.
ADDED 5:21 PM: Here’s the reply from Parks: “When the weather is warm/dry enough to lay asphalt (likely spring but could be earlier).”
“This peaceful meadow.”
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