Tiburon council wants study before decision on pickleball

The Ranch recreation agency, which operates the Teather Park tennis courts (center right) on Beach Road, wants to add pickleball, with residents largely split on the request. Those who live nearby — particularly at the Point Tiburon Marsh condos (center left) — are concerned they’ll be bombarded by non-stop, high-pitched pinging, especially since pickleball has been added at the lower courts of the Tiburon Peninsula Club (upper left). (Apple Maps / The Ark, Kevin Hessel)

The Tiburon Town Council has rejected a three-month trial for pickleball at Teather Park, opting instead to undertake a comprehensive study of existing local pickleball facilities along with the sport’s noise impacts and possible mitigation measures before deciding whether to allow play on the town-owned Beach Road tennis courts.

The council at its Aug. 17 meeting voted unanimously to appoint Vice Mayor Jack Ryan and Councilmember Alice Fredericks to a subcommittee to do that study. The vote came after a motion by Ryan to allow the three-month trial on the courts failed to gain a majority, with just Ryan and Councilmember Noah Griffin in support.

The issue has also divided residents: The council received some 43 letters on the proposal head of the meeting — 20 in support of allowing play and 23 against.

The controversial proposal by Belvedere-Tiburon Recreation came to the council on the recommendation of the Parks, Open Space and Trails Commission, which in March voted in favor of striping and nets for partner pickleball play at the park’s lower court, with sound-mitigation measures to lessen the impact on neighbors.

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