Idea of building pickleball courts at Wellesley’s Morses Pond parking lot gains steam

During the Aug. 24 Natural Resources Commission (NRC) meeting, member Jay McHale gave a brief update on the town’s effort to locate pickleball courts in areas that will keep the noise away from neighbors. Those at Sprague Field and Perrin Park, in particular, have caused grief for people living nearby.

The Morses Pond parking lot has been raised as a possible new location throughout the process to address pickleball demand vs. neighbors’ rights. McHale said he met recently with the heads of the Board of Public Works, the Community Preservation Committee (CPC), and the Recreation Commission, and that the Department of Public Works has put through a proposal for possibly locating 4 pickleball courts at the Morses Pond parking lot.

McHale and fellow NRC member Michael D’Ortenzio made a site visit to test how far sound would carry, and found that it would not carry to either the beach or nearby Turner Road.

The CPC has arranged a meeting for Aug. 29 that includes an agenda item about possibly putting a general article on the fall Special Town Meeting warrant for funding that McHale said could go toward Morses Pond pickleball court design or for the whole project if the plan continues to go forward.

“It’s important for the community to know we’re trying to come up with a solution,” McHale said.

Earlier this summer, the Recreation Commission updated hours and days that pickleball play was allowed at various venues.

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