By Brian Trompeter
Adjustments made to Vienna’s pickleball scheduling at Glyndon Park – bolstered by continued police enforcement and the addition of other courts at another park – have proved successful, and town officials plan to continue them for the foreseeable future.
But some Vienna Town Council members on Sept. 25 said they wanted to ensure everyone desiring to play the popular sport got the opportunity.
Following a spate of complaints about pickleball-related noise at Glyndon Park, the Council on Jan. 30 directed the Parks and Recreation Department to extend the pickleball-reservations system to as many hours as possible and reduce the amount of people waiting to play on Glyndon Park’s courts.
The Council on June 6 agreed to continue the pickleball-court schedule for an additional three months and have town staff examine the feasibility of offering one-hour periods for the sport to be played, instead of the current two-hour windows.
The town hired part-time staff to lock and unlock the pickleball nets at Glyndon Park to ensure players did not exceed allotted hours for the sport. (That did not stop some people from playing pickleball using the tennis nets instead, which resulted in some additional complaints to town police.)
In a Sept. 19 memorandum to the mayor and Town Council, Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman wrote that based on data collected and observations made over the summer, “the current schedule and reservation system is working.”
Herman recommended not making further changes to pickleball hours at Glyndon Park or to reservation increments for people seeking to play the sport there.
“I feel that actions taken by the town to improve the quality of life for the neighbors that live next to Glyndon Park while providing a compromise with the pickleball community for scheduled playtime has been successful,” Herman wrote. “I kindly request that staff not need to provide further pickleball reviews to council unless complaints from residents increase or demand for play exceeds reservation time available.”
Council member Steve Potter said he wanted the Parks and Recreation Department to continue providing periodic updates on the pickleball situation, and that this could be done via e-mails instead of presentations to the Council.
Town officials will continue the current pickleball schedule at Glyndon Park, which allows people between March 1 and Nov. 30 to play the sport Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. From Dec. 1 through February, people can play pickleball at Glyndon Park on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
During other periods when the park is open, people only may play tennis on the courts.
Herman’s memo discouraged the provision of one-hour playing slots for pickleball, saying there had been no demand for them over the summer. One-hour windows also could increase traffic coming to and going from the park and boost the number of vehicles parked in the vicinity. The Vienna Pickleball Club has requested that town officials maintain the two-hour time increments, Herman wrote.
Council member Nisha Patel questioned whether all who wanted to play the sport were getting the chance to do so.
“You can’t definitively say the [pickleball court] availability is exceeding demand, because you’re not hearing from people who are trying to book when all four courts are booked,” she told Parks and Recreation Department officials. “You have no way of knowing how many people are actually trying to play at certain times who are not able to.”
Herman responded that the department would track such numbers if people complained.
Mayor Linda Colbert favored holding open the possibility of one-hour playing windows in the future, which might allow more people to play. Only 52 people responded to the town’s pickleball survey, and residents who have not been playing the sport might be the kind of people who don’t complain, she said.
“I think we need to think about the people we’re not hearing from,” she said.
Council member Charles Anderson said town officials needed to base their decisions on available data. “The idea that people aren’t getting to play is based on gut feeling, not numbers,” he said.
The town of Vienna recently got a boost from Fairfax County, which provided lighted pickleball courts with movable nets on two of Cunningham Park’s three tennis courts. The park is within town limits but owned by the county government.
As of 2021, the Fairfax County Park Authority had only 28 pickleball courts available, but since then, the county has added 48 more, Herman’s memo read. In addition, Peterson Lane and Nottoway parks in the Vienna area potentially could support six pickleball courts, she wrote.
Pickleball players also may engage in the sport on three indoor courts at the Vienna Community Center. Those courts are available for pickleball from April through November on Thursdays from 6 to 10:30 p.m. and from September through mid-June on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Vienna is rich in pickleball courts, relative to Fairfax County, and the current scheduling regimen appears to be operating well, Anderson said.
“You cannot build to peak demand,” he said. “We’d have facilities all over the town. I think the system is working OK. I don’t see any compelling reason to change it right now.”
Council OKs Construction Contract for Desale Street Sidewalk: Vienna Town Council members on Sept. 25 unanimously approved a $227,475 contract with Arthur Construction Co. Inc. to build a sidewalk along the north side of Desale Street, N.W., from Moore Avenue to Melody Lane.
The project, which will be financed using funds from the Maud Ferris Robinson Charitable Trust, will include 935 square yards of concrete sidewalk, 165 square yards of concrete driveway entrances, 60 square yards of Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant curb ramps, 50 tons of asphalt paving and other items.
Vienna Council Declines to Set Public Hearing on Code Amendments for Tree Canopy: The Vienna Town Council on an unusual 3-3 tie vote declined to set an Oct. 23 public hearing regarding proposed town-code amendments pertaining to tree canopy.
Some Council members were wary of the variety of options slated to be presented at the hearing, saying the town might not be authorized by the legislature to enact some of the proposed provisions.
“As we look at draft legislation, need to look at all the options,” said Council member Charles Anderson.
“I don’t think we should put before the public things we can’t legally do,” said Council member Ed Somers, who voted against the public hearing along with Council member Nisha Patel and Mayor Linda Colbert.
The Vienna Planning Commission is slated to hold a Sept. 27 public hearing on the proposed code revisions and pass its recommendations to the Council.
