Judicial review request rescinded, North Saanich pickleball saga plays on

Supporters of a judicial review to determine whether North Saanich’s council followed proper procedure when it closed the community’s outdoor pickleball courts last spring have cancelled their request.

And as the district discusses the possibility of building new courts, one of its councillors plans to revive the possibility of reopening the shuttered ones.

“I've been waiting for the matter, the legal matter, to be concluded, so that I can move forward on my support of reopening the pickleball courts,” Coun. Jack McClintock told Capital Daily.

“Now it's not before the courts, so the gates are open again,” he said. “The arguments can be raised to reopen the pickleball courts.”

A judicial review hearing was scheduled for Feb. 10.

Proponents of a review into the May 7 shuttering of the Wain Road pickleball courts decided to drop their request for a legal look-see into the closure after an incident in the council chambers at a Jan. 13 council meeting.

It happened during a discussion of the possibility of building courts at nearby Blue Heron Park—a capital project that according to North Saanich estimates would cost $674K—to replace those closed due to noise complaints. Mayor Peter Jones brought forth a motion calling among other things, for the district to survey residents living up to 600 metres away from where the courts would be built—that’s four times the common distance required, Brad Watson president of the Saanich Peninsula Pickleball Association told Capital Daily.

BAP guidelines call for absorption panels

“Guidelines from BAP Acoustics that all of BC municipalities follow, you don't have to even have sound mitigation beyond 150 metres away,” Watson said, referring to the Vancouver-based company that has a Victoria office and has performed sound tests on pickleball courts.

That report said four-court facilities such as Wain Park don't need sound mitigation if homes are 75 metres away because noise from the pickleball being struck is less than the 50 dBA level, a level that meets the noise bylaw requirements of most communities. But because the home closest to the Wain Park courts is only 50 metres away, noise-absorption panels are recommended.

The pickleball side says those panels could be had and installed for between $35K and $50K.

Back to the drama in the council chamber . . . ‍

At that point, a voice could be heard from the council gallery shouting: “Six-hundred metres? Are you insane? Six-hundred metres. What the hell? Where the hell are you coming from?”

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It was North Saanich resident Frank Gee, an advocate for keeping the Wain Park courts open.

In July, Gee presented to the council the results of a sound mitigation study conducted in August at Carnarvon Park which showed with proper sound mitigation—sound padding on three of the four sides of the courts—the Wain Park courts could be used without annoying the neighbours.

“There is no justification for that kind of distance to determine whether the community wants a court there or not,” Gee could be heard forcefully telling the council.

Gee was then told by Coun. Kristine Marshall to be quiet.

“You're upsetting staff and we’re not going to have that,” she instructed. “When we are in this chamber, we are respectful, we don’t have outbursts. We don’t swear, we don’t yell. You’ve done that time and time again. You’re still doing it. I’m speaking, not you.”

Marshall went on to warn Gee: “You have a choice. You have 15 seconds to make that choice, either stop or we will recess,” whereupon, the council then took a recess. When the meeting resumed, Marshall apologized to the staff.

“When we're sitting in these chambers, whether we all agree or not, we are here to be respectful.”

The motion passed 6-1, with McClintock’s being the lone dissenting voice.

Wain Park pickleball courts before the facility was closed last May. Photo: Capital Daily

The Jan. 13 outburst wasn’t the sole reason proponents of a judicial review dropped their case but it was a factor. Several people close to the situation told Capital Daily, that the shouting played into the assertion some pickleballers’ passion for playing had festered into bullying, and as Watson told Capital Daily: “It just weakened the hand of the case against the mayor.”

Brian Harrigan, a member of the ad hoc group supportive of restoring the Wain Park courts, told Capital Daily: “I think, more than that, there was a recognition by the petitioners that they wanted to take the temperature down a bit,” he said.

Pickleballers just want peace and a place to play

“This is a small community. We people want and need to live together, and maybe there's another way to sort this out, but certainly how that meeting ended up didn't help matters.”

Gee issued an online apology to the pickleball community.

“As disappointing as it is, the Ad Hoc committee has decided to NOT proceed to the judicial review hearing,” Gee began. “The primary reason for withdrawing, and I do wholeheartedly apologise [sic], is my "outburst" in Council chambers.”

Speaking with Capital Daily, Gee asserted something McClintock had told Capital Daily—that councillors were taken by surprise by Jones’ motion.

“And that's part of his strategy, is to throw in these grenades that just send all this, all reasonable discussion off on a different track,” he said.

Watson agreed. “He [Jones] made promises to a couple of neighbours, and also he broke municipal procedural bylaws on shutting down the courts—even a couple of council members didn't know it was coming,” Watson said.

Capital Daily cannot substantiate Watson’s assertions that Jones made any promises to anyone or broke any bylaws, although that opinion appears pervasive among the North Saanich pickleballers contacted.

When he was told about McClintock’s intention to rejuvenate the Wain Park discussion in the council, Gee wasn’t optimistic.

“My only reaction to that would be that I don't imagine Mayor Jones would even consider it,” Gee told Capital Daily.

“Mayor Jones does not want pickleball at Wain Park," he said.