GLENDALE, Colo. — Glendale City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to ban people from playing pickleball on tennis courts.
The vote follows the closure of the tennis courts at Infinity Park this summer. According to the city, pickleball players caused $100,000-worth of damage to the surface of the court.
The ordinance prohibits people from bringing pickleball nets to tennis courts, marking up courts or shoveling snow off courts.
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Dan Schlager, who plays both pickleball and tennis and played often at Infinity Park, said he never saw his fellow players mistreating the court and is disappointed the city is taking these steps.
"You know, you're not ticketing soccer players who are playing on the field that was designed for rugby originally," Schlager said, adding that the courts were often "empty" before pickleball players started using them.
As the city restricts pickleball players from using designated tennis courts, it is constructing dedicated pickleball courts at Glendale Park, formerly Mir Park. Four courts will be installed in the project, which is slated to be completed this fall.
"People won't have to bring their nets. They won't have to place any lines. They'll just have to bring their paddles and their balls," said City Manager Chuck Line of the new courts. "And because of that, we want to be able to preserve the tennis players in our community."
Schlager said he is glad the city is investing in new courts, but wonders why Glendale Park was selected for pickleball and Infinity Park for tennis. The courts at Glendale Park will be surrounded by housing, he pointed out, and could be disturbed by the noise of the sport.
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Several other communities in the Denver metro have been met with a deluge of noise complaints from homeowners near pickleball courts.
"Here [at Infinity Park], it's a really busy corner. There's no housing. And, you probably could fit six pickleball courts," Schlager said.
Ultimately, he hopes his fellow tennis players and fellow pickleball players will be able to play each on courts throughout Glendale and Colorado.
"Pickleball is just exploding all over the country. People are really enjoying it," he said. "It's Colorado. Like, we should be the leader. Denver should be the leader in all of these things that are recreation oriented. It's a great outdoor city, as opposed to kind of going the other way that discourages this kind of activity."
