The Wellesley Recreation Commission is holding an online public hearing on Monday, Sept. 30 at 6pm to present and discuss the latest on four possible pickleball courts at the Morses Pond parking lot.

Update: Here’s a link to the meeting that took place on Sept. 30. Some technical issues at the start prompted a decision that additional meetings will be held at times to be determined to ensure all those who want to speak to the subject have a chance to do so.

The “Pickleball Feasibility & Design Study Phase II” meeting will feature a presentation from town consulting partner Weston & Sampson, followed by questions and answers. A draft presentation has been posted on the town website.

Pickleball has been a hot topic in Wellesley since the pandemic, initially when many people picked up the sport as a way to get together outside at a safe social distance. Pickleball enthusiasm has continued, with the Rec Department recording some 2,000 hours of reserved play last year.

While many pickleballers prefer to play outside when weather allows, the noise from the game can be intolerable to those who live nearby. The town has attempted to balance the concerns over the past couple of years by limiting play at some locations (repurposed tennis courts), but has done so with longer-term plans for courts away from residences.

Proponents and opponents have organized, and they speak frequently at town meetings, from Recreation to School Committee to Natural Resources. Players have formed Wellesley Community Pickleball to work with town officials to support the sport in town. Regarding possible developments at Morses Pond, and the wider North 40 area, a group called Preserve Our Woodlands has launched to monitor developments and have their voices heard. Among concerns expressed: Pickleball at Morses Pond could bring tens of thousands of additional vehicle trips up and down Turner Road.

Be a good sport and support the Swellesley Report (hey, that all rhymes!)

Studying the issue

Spending $70K to study the pickleball issue was approved at Special Town Meeting last fall.

Under Phase I, the consultancy conducted an inventory of pickleball courts in town, surveyed the public, and looked at possible locations for new courts. It rejected four of the five possibilities for various reasons, and settled on the Morses Pond parking lot area as a possible site that would satisfy players, neighbors, environmentalists, and the town.

Under Phase II, Weston & Sampson dove into the town possibly building pickleball courts at the parking lot site. (The outside firm’s draft presentation flip-flops between referring to the area as Morse’s Pond and Morses Pond, the latter of which the town uses.)

In its draft presentation, Weston & Sampson describes rejecting two possible Morses Pond locations, while identifying one that could be feasible at the back of the parking lot. It would require less tree removal and be further from trail users, while being situated in a relatively flat space. The consultancy shows two possible options at that site, one within the current parking lot, the other adjacent to it.

The envisioned four courts would require a 15-foot sound barrier alongside them, informed by an acoustics study conducted during Phase I of the study. No residential properties sit within 500 feet of the possible court location in the lot, per the consultancy. There had been some talk along the way of possibly covering the courts in a hangar-like facility, but there’s no mention of this in the latest from Weston & Sampson.

“Based on the feedback we received through public survey and town-wide inventory, it is recommended that 4 dedicated pickleball courts be located at Morses Pond to alleviate the growing demand and needs of the community,” the draft presentation reads. It says the courts could accommodate up to 4,800 daylight hours of play, weather permitting.

The courts could cost between an estimated $558,000 and $637,000 to build, according to the report, which wraps into those figures site prep, stormwater drainage, fencing, and more. One big factor in the cost would be whether bituminous or more expensive post tension concrete materials are used; each has its pros and cons.

At the Sept. 30 meeting, members of the public will be able to comment and ask questions, limited to three minutes. Send email to recreation@wellesleyma.gov by noon on Sept. 30 to get a zoom link place in the queue. Advance written comments are welcomed at that same address.

The Recreation Commission did touch on pickleball within the first 20 minutes of its Sept. 24 meeting, but did not discuss the subject in depth.

More on pickleball: Longfellow-Babson unite

We wrote recently about pickleball taking off at Babson College. After we alerted Babson’s student pickleball ambassador that the new Longfellow Wellesley Tennis & Health Club had opened next to the Babson Skating Center, he connected with the Longfellow pickleball pro and now the Babson Pickleball Club is holding tournaments and practices there.