Frequently Asked Questions

Pickleball is a fast-growing sport for people of all ages, especially among seniors. It can be played outdoors or indoors. Part of pickleball’s appeal is its accessibility to learn and play, and shorter game time than some other racquet sports. 

West Vancouver is an active and healthy community with a natural environment that makes active outdoor pursuits readily available to the community. The provision of dedicated courts for pickleball provides recreational opportunities that are important for social well-being of the community.

Hugo Ray Park was identified as a potential location for dedicated pickleball courts because: 

• areas of the park are not in close proximity to adjacent residences
• there is available parking and access to park washrooms
• has available space for future expansion of pickleball courts

Council, at its January 24, 2022 regular meeting, passed the following resolution: 

THAT staff be directed to report back to Council on the feasibility of installing permanent pickleball courts at Hugo Ray Park during the summer of 2022, especially with respect to quantifiable noise, traffic, and other related impacts.

At the May 30, 2022 meeting, staff presented the feasibility study and Council directed staff to proceed to community consultation on Option A and Option C and report back in July.

Engineering, environmental, and costing studies were recently undertaken for the installation of dedicated pickleball courts in Hugo Ray Park. Staff evaluated each site against the following criteria:

• minimize the impact of dedicated pickleball courts on existing park users
• minimize the impact of the noise of the sport on nearby residences 
• construction considerations and costs 
• ability to expand and add more dedicated pickleball courts in the future

Council directed staff to proceed to community consultation on Option A and Option C and report back in July 2022.

More information is available in the May 30 Council Report.

Preliminary studies for installation of four dedicated pickleball courts at Hugo Ray Park have a projected “Class D” cost estimate of $516,000 for Option A and $465,000 for Option C. 

Class D estimates indicate the cost could be higher or lower by 25% of the estimated cost. The estimate takes into consideration current market pricing for the installation of sport courts in Metro Vancouver and the conditions at Hugo Ray Park. The cost estimates for all options include the provision of one larger pickleball court at an estimated cost of $50,000 to allow for accessible play. 

In discussions with the Financial Services Division, the 2022 capital approved funding of $192,815 could be augmented with funding from the Community Amenity Contributions (CAC) fund of up to $750,000 for building dedicated pickleball courts at Hugo Ray Park. The allocation of CAC funds would require Council approval.

Maintenance for the proposed four new dedicated pickleball courts at Hugo Ray Park will be incorporated into existing budgets.

In addition, pickleball clubs have voiced their interest in starting a fundraising initiative.

A transportation assessment study was undertaken to better understand the traffic and parking implications of installing four dedicated pickleball courts at Hugo Ray Park.

View Transportation Assessment (PDF)

The transportation assessment shows that this park can accommodate the proposed four dedicated pickleball courts from a traffic and parking perspective. The predicted peak parking demand at Hugo Ray Park when all four courts are in use with doubles play and including people waiting to play, is up to 20 vehicles. There is predicted to be a peak hour traffic flow of 15 vehicles. 

Peak hour traffic flow of 15 vehicles means approximately one car every four minutes heading either toward or away from the park. The transportation assessment concludes that four dedicated pickleball courts at Hugo Ray Park will have negligible traffic impact on nearby streets and that the added parking activity can be readily accommodated by the existing parking lots. There are 93 parking spaces in Hugo Ray Park.

Playing pickleball creates a distinctive sound when the whiffle ball is hit by the player’s paddle. Sound levels also increase when many players are at dedicated courts. One of the reasons Hugo Ray Park is being considered for dedicated pickleball courts is because areas of the park are not in close proximity to adjacent residences. Preliminary distance measurements show Option A and Option C be more than 140 m away from the closest residences. 

A preliminary acoustic study has been done to determine the impacts of the sound of pickleball from dedicated courts on nearby residences. This study showed that the locations of dedicated pickleball courts shown in Option A and Option C are not expected to have a significant impact from the noise of the sport on residences west and south of the park. More detailed work on sound will be completed once a site option is selected.

The trees for Option A are medium-diameter deciduous trees (primarily cottonwood trees) that are secondary succession trees that have grown in a previously disturbed area of the park. 

Once the final location of the new pickle ball courts are determined, a detailed tree inventory will be completed to determine the tree species size and location. Option C does not require tree removal. 

Hugo Ray Park has two sports fields used for cricket, youth soccer, t-ball and ultimate frisbee. There are a total of 93 parking stalls in the park; washrooms and change rooms in the field house; and the Pavilion clubhouse which is used by West Vancouver Cricket Club. The building of dedicated pickleball courts will increase the park’s usage. It is desirable to have this increased usage carefully incorporated to minimize the impact on current park users and on the access to the Pavilion clubhouse.

Option A utilizes an underused area of the park to the east of the Pavilion clubhouse. 

Option C would impact the current usage of the park as it affects circulation between the Pavilion clubhouse and the parking lot, and circulation between the cricket pitches. This location would be visually prominent to residences and current users of the park.

Portions of Hugo Ray Park were used as a municipal landfill decades ago and there is also considerable imported fill of unknown quality over the entire site. In addition, historical records indicate that waste was burnt on the site. These factors may indicate possible ground instability and contamination. Areas with poor ground conditions may require extensive and costly excavation and may be prone to early failure of the courts due to excessive settlement. This is a consideration in court placement. 

The preliminary engineering assessment for Hugo Ray Park indicates that Option A and Option C are suitable for building pickleball courts. Additional testing for possible environmental contaminants would be required for the finalized location of dedicated pickleball courts in the park.

Additional future pickleball courts could be placed in the surrounding area of the proposed pickleball courts in Option A and Option C. This would require further study.

Staff have identified the old bike skills area at Gleneagles, adjacent to the skateboard park. If the bike skills area could be moved elsewhere in the vicinity, this would free up this area adjacent to the skateboard park for pickleball courts. 

The preliminary analysis of the community engagement for Klee Wyck Park indicates that the installation of dedicated pickleball courts is not a key amenity requested for this park.

Ambleside Park was considered as a location for dedicated pickleball courts, as it has some areas that are not in close proximity to residential areas, there is available parking, multiple ways to access the park, public washrooms, and available space south of the railway line. The growing popularity of pickleball was also a consideration and Ambleside Park has limited parking capacity at prime usage times, as well as limitations in available space for more than four dedicated pickleball courts. Pickleball players were not in favour of this location.

Indoor pickleball opportunities are currently available and very popular at both the West Vancouver and Gleneagles Community Centres.

Council, at its December 13, 2021 regular meeting, passed the following resolution: 

• THAT staff report back in January with a plan to move the 29th Street pickleball courts on an interim basis. 

Council, at its January 24, 2022 regular meeting, passed the following resolution: 

• THAT staff be directed to report back to Council on the feasibility of installing permanent pickleball courts at Hugo Ray Park during the summer of 2022, especially with respect to quantifiable noise, traffic, and other related impacts. 
• THAT the 29th Street dedicated pickleball courts be closed on April 30, 2022 and converted back to tennis. 

Council, at its February 7, 2022 regular meeting, passed the following resolution: 

• THAT 
• 1. staff be directed to create up to 4 temporary pickleball courts on the northern sports court at Normanby Park as soon as possible; and
• 2. the temporary Normanby Park pickleball courts be converted back to a tennis court once permanent pickleball courts are built

At the May 30, 2022 meeting, Council directed staff to proceed to community consultation on Option A and Option C and report back on the outcome of the community engagement with recommendations on next steps for the installation of dedicated pickleball courts in Hugo Ray Park.

Following the completion of this community engagement, staff will report back to Council in fall 2022 on the results of this engagement with recommended next steps including funding requirements. 

Currently, no hours of operation are proposed. Lights are not planned for this project.