Deerfield board unanimous in accepting pickleball plan

A game similar to small-scale tennis or large-scale Ping-Pong, pickleball appears to be on its way to Deerfield.

Following a similar vote for recommendation by the Deerfield Plan Commission on March 10, on Monday the village board voted 5-0 to create pickleball courts at the southwest section of Shepard Park, a Deerfield Park District property at 440 Grove Place, along Hackberry Road.

The unanimous vote directed Deerfield attorney Steve Elrod to write an ordinance proceeding with the plan commission's recommendation. The ordinance will return to the village board's April 18 meeting for final approval. If approved, construction would begin in June.

“We started looking at pickleball sites throughout the district quite a few years ago, and I think we've landed on a good spot,” said Deerfield Park District Executive Director Jeff Nehila.

Conversations about bringing pickleball to Deerfield — it's played on a 20-foot by 44-foot court either by singles or doubles teams using paddles to swat a Wiffle ball-like sphere over a waist-high net — go back at least four years.

Public opposition mainly concerning noise rejected prior attempts to create pickleball courts at Jewett Park and at Deerspring Park. The Deerspring initiative made it through the plan commission with a 5-0 recommendation before residents' opposition resulted in seeking an alternative site, Nehila said Tuesday.

The courts at Shepard Park, an 8.73-acre site adjacent to Shepard Middle School on the east, is otherwise nearest to the village's wastewater treatment plan on the south. The closest residences to the north are 511 feet away, 626 feet from houses to the west.

At Monday's meeting Nehila said a Change.org petition drew 541 people who supported the courts; he also said a Jan. 13 informational hearing attracted two people both in favor.

There was no opposition at the April 4 board meeting. The closest thing to a negative review found in the approximately dozen public comment emails included with the board's agenda item were two residents concerned with lighting, of which there will be none.

The base package will consist of four pickleball courts at Shepard Park plus two “alternate” courts should the park district's budget allow. Once bids for construction are let and received, should funds initially allow for only four courts, the plan commission directed the other two courts to be added within three years.

“All the pickleballers who are with us will tell you, four is not enough,” Nehila told the board. He noted that portable courts at Sachs Recreation Center “are always busy.”

The courts will be available to Shepard Middle School students from noon-4 p.m. on school days, and otherwise to the public.

The proposal also includes switching two existing ball fields on the west end of the park to accommodate the pickleball courts, expanding parking along Hackberry Road for a total of 25 spaces, and adding a paved path from the parking lot to the renovated northwest ballfield.

Dan Brinkman, Gewalt Hamilton assistant director of transportation services, expected a “very minimal impact” to traffic with the addition of the courts, and said the new parking lot would support additional demand.

Likewise, noise control engineer Tom Thunder didn't anticipate noise to be a problem.

“This would not pose any impact to the neighbors,” Thunder said.

Trustee Mary Oppenheim appreciated the location of the courts, the “sorely needed” paved path that would assist disabled patrons, and drainage improvements the ballfield grading would bring.

“This looks to me like it's going to be an upgrade — win, win, win. And I think it's terrific that you found a good spot for them,” she told Nehila.

The board's 5-0 approval brought applause by those gathered in the Village Hall's Robert D. Franz Council Chambers.