Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
The Pacific Palisades Park Advisory Board discussed pickleball updates during its Wednesday, January 25, meeting—including why hybrid lines had not yet been added to tennis court #7 at Palisades Recreation Center.
“I believe that they want to have a professional sound test done,” Palisades Recreation Center Director Jasmine Dowlatshahi shared during the meeting. “So I believe we’re waiting on that now … we do want pickleball lines on tennis court #7, that’s what we’re pushing for. We’re just waiting to see when they can do the official test.”
During a January 19 Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners meeting, RAP General Manager Jimmy Kim reported that he would be instructing staff to work on hiring a sound consultant to do the sound level testing at court #7.
Following the test, Dowlatshahi said they will be “happy to do whatever” they can “to get those lines down as quick as possible.” In the meantime, Dowlatshahi said, the rec center is offering open play pickleball inside the big gym on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pickleball—the “fastest growing sport in America”—is described as a paddleball sport, which combines elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton. Two to four players use paddles, made from wood or composite materials, to hit a perforated ball, similar to a wiffle ball, over a net. It is a multi-generational sport, played by participants ages 5 to 95.
The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners voted during its Thursday, September 15, 2022, meeting to add pickleball lines to tennis court #7—pending a noise study—after the Pacific Palisades Park Advisory Board voted at its quarterly meeting on November 10, 2021, to support the conversion of one tennis court into a hybrid playing space.
Tennis court #7 is one of four courts at Palisades Recreation Center that is not operated by park staff, but instead run by a special operations branch of Recreation and Parks that runs Pay Tennis.
PP-PAB Secretary Maryam Zar asked for confirmation during the January 25 meeting that while an unofficial noise study was completed, RAP would not be painting lines until a formal noise study is complete.
“A noise study is very expensive, which is why we went with Anthony Gallo,” Sonya Young-Jimenez, a superintendent of the Recreation and Parks department, explained. “He has a very nice piece of equipment … it’s actually what we use for the Greek Theatre, and that’s what we did our study with.”
Young-Jimenez explained that noise studies can cost between $10,000 and $20,000, and that they are also looking into windscreens that are “sound dampening,” which cost about $95,000. She noted that Pay Tennis will be the ones to fund the restriping and soundproofing.
“We’re trying to see what would be the best option to help with the noise before we put the pickleball court lines in,” Young-Jimenez concluded.
The meeting opened up for public comments from area residents, including pickleball players and those who reside neighboring the park, who supported the comprehensive noise study and also, suggested one resident, a parking study due to the extra traffic in the parking lot attracted by pickleball players.
“I know there is a very active and impassioned pickleball community, and so what I say may not give you much comfort, but I do know that the Board of Rec and Park Commissioners are attempting to adopt a citywide pickleball policy and are using this as the test case, because there’s fervent interest in pickleball, really nationally and internationally,” PP-PAB Chair Andy Starrels said. “They’re trying to respond. We hear the urgency in the constituencies.”
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