The Pickleball Line at Gellert Park Keeps Growing. Here's What Daly City Is Weighing Before November 24.

Steven Sampaga brings his own net to Gellert Park. When both pickleball courts are taken and a tennis court sits empty, he strings the net across it so the people waiting can play. He told Daly City's Recreation Commission on September 22 that he doesn't like doing it, and the Daly Citizen reported his words: "I do not feel good every time I set up my own net on an existing tennis court, and I am sure that tennis players feel the same."

That net shows where the city's response is headed. Gellert Park clearly doesn't have enough pickleball courts, but Daly City's first step isn't new pavement. The commission is starting with rules and signs, because those can be done in weeks and the bigger fix has no funding yet.

Two courts and a waiting line

Gellert Park sits beside the Serramonte Main Library at 40 Wembley Drive, and it has two dedicated pickleball courts. At the September meeting, John Boncado said the group of players had grown to about 24 people wanting to play, with waits of 50 minutes to an hour for a game. According to the Daly Citizen, the group started with six players, and the courts are starting to crack. At the October 27 meeting, the number had grown again. California Record's summary of that session says up to 35 players crowd the two courts.

Four players fit on a doubles court, so two courts hold eight people at a time. With 24 waiting, three groups are sitting out for every one on the court. That's why Gellert's empty tennis courts started getting borrowed.

The posted rules only cover tennis

The players aren't asking the city to take anything away from tennis. Sampaga asked for "a couple of pickleball courts without taking away the tennis courts that are already established," according to the commission's September 22 minutes. Boncado suggested designating some tennis courts as shared courts by adding pickleball lines.

The problem is that the courts don't say who gets to use them. At the October 27 meeting, staff reported that the court rules at Gellert and Westlake are still written for tennis only. With nothing posted, a pickleball net on an open tennis court is neither allowed nor banned. Both groups are left to work it out on their own, and the California Record issue summary describes the conflicts on the shared courts happening "where rules are not posted."

Recreation Services Director Denise Brown laid out the department's plan at the September meeting. Staff were updating the tennis court rules at Gellert and Westlake to cover pickleball, asking building maintenance about adding two pickleball courts at each park, and looking at how other cities handle shared courts.

Westlake has courts, but they need work

Westlake Park, at 145 Lake Merced Blvd., also has two dedicated pickleball courts. The players told the commission it isn't a good alternative to Gellert because of the condition of the surface.

A $295,000 capital project would resurface and reconfigure the Westlake tennis courts. As of October 27 it had no funding, and it depends on where it falls among the City Council's priorities.

These courts were also part of a larger plan for Westlake this year. The Olympic Club's proposed renovation of Westlake Park included updating the tennis courts and adding pickleball courts, SFGATE reported in August. The club withdrew from that agreement on September 4. At the same September 22 meeting where the pickleball players spoke, members of the Save Westlake Park committee asked the commission to work with them on improving the park and offered to help raise money. So the court question at Westlake is now open again, and the city and neighbors are the ones who would pay for whatever comes next.

What each fix would cost

California Record's summary of the commission's discussion puts rough costs on the options.

The cheapest option is also the one moving. On October 27 the commission voted 5–0 to have Recreation Services prepare a pilot of updated rules and signs for the tennis and pickleball courts at both parks. It then moved the item to its November 24 meeting to hear from the community. New lines are the next step up in cost, and like the resurfacing, they depend on funding. For the price of resurfacing Westlake once, the city could add lines to more than a hundred courts.

The rules pilot comes with trade-offs too. The same summary notes that tennis players could lose access to shared courts on days set aside for pickleball, and that taxpayers would cover any resurfacing. A rules pilot means deciding who plays when.

South San Francisco tried shared lines first

The city next door shows what that approach looks like. South San Francisco's parks department said it had no permanent pickleball facilities when it planned its new courts. In the meantime, it added pickleball lines to the tennis courts at Buri Buri, Stonegate and Westborough for shared use and turned the tennis court at Sellick into a dedicated pickleball pilot site.

Its long-term plan is six dedicated courts at Orange Memorial Park, with a design-and-construction budget of $1.05 million, according to the city's project page. So one neighboring city used the shared-lines approach Gellert's players are asking for, and later budgeted more than three times the Westlake resurfacing cost for new courts. Daly City's staff are researching what other cities do with shared courts, and this is one model close to home.

Other courts nearby

Until the rules change, these are the other public options listed on official city pages:

Pacifica's courts are closed to the public during high school programs and Pacifica Parks, Beaches and Recreation classes, so check the city's recreation page before you drive over.

November 24 at City Hall

In October the commission moved the pickleball item to its next regular meeting so it could hear from the community. That meeting is Tuesday, November 24, at 7 p.m., in the City Hall Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of 333 90th Street. The October agenda lists three ways to comment:

1. Submit a written comment by meeting day through the public comment form at dalycity.org/agendas, or email [email protected] with "Public Comment" in the subject line. Comments received by 4 p.m. on meeting day go to the commission before the meeting, and they aren't read aloud.
2. Submit a written comment during the meeting.
3. Attend in person and fill out a speaker card when you arrive.

To follow along from home, meetings air on Channel 27 on Xfinity and on the city's YouTube streams page.

Michael B. Soon follows what's happening on the courts and in the parks around Daly City as closely as he follows the homes near them. If you'd like to know which parts of Daly City put Gellert or Westlake within walking distance, Michael Soon is happy to walk you through it. Schedule a free neighborhood consultation.