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Home My WebLink AboutItem_4.3_Correspondence_received_as_of_1100_a.m._on_November_9_2022From:PATRICK HAWTHORN To:Gail Massagli Subject:Regarding Addition Of Pickleball Courts At Osage Date:Tuesday, November 8, 2022 5:02:48 PM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. Reference: Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission - Special Meeting; 11-09-2022 6:30; Agenda item 4.3 - Consider approval of Additional Pickleball Courts at Osage Station Park Attn Gail Massagli, I'm a 19 year Danville resident and a regular pickleball player at Osage (living just a few blocks away). Nearly every day in the late afternoon both courts are full while at least one of the tennis courts stays empty (often 2 or all 3). I'm not saying we need the 12-14 courts that have been proposed (we don't). But we do need more. Ridiculous to see 5, 10, and even more than 20 people waiting for a court to open up while the tennis courts are empty. And pickleball is great for the town. Pickleball has brought a sense of community to the Osage where many of the regulars (and there are many regulars) now know each other, enjoy conversations, exercise and have a good time. I would strongly encourage adding the 8 courts configuration as proposed in the Staff Report 4.3 11-9-2022. -Patrick Hawthorn Danville 94526 Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission Correspondence Received as of 11:00 a.m. November 9, 2022 Andrea From:RON FONG To:Gail Massagli Subject:Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission, Nov 9th Meeting Agenda item 4.3 Date:Tuesday, November 8, 2022 5:58:16 PM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. TO: Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission, Gail Massagli FR: Ron Fong RE: Nov 9th Meeting Agenda item 4.3 (I support adding additional pickleball courts at Osage Station Park). I have lived in Danville for 36 years and have had endless opportunities to visit Osage Station Park as my children grew. I am very fortunate to have such a nice multi activity park just a short walk from my home. My children and I made good use of the recreation facilities at Osage, starting with the play structures when my children were small and then advancing to the baseball fields, soccer fields and tennis courts as they grew older. My children also attended Charlotte Wood school adjacent to the park. There are endless opportunities for recreation activities for the young at Osage Station Park. I recently turned 72 and found that Osage is very limited as to what is available in the way of physical exercise amenities for those my age. This was trueuntil the town of Danville converted a tennis court to 2 pickleball courts. I now find myself playing pickleball at Osage 2-3 times a week. Pickleball is played by all ages, however I find that it is a sport that is very user friendly for those my age. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to get great outdoor exercise and socialize with adiverse group of people of all ages while playing pickleball at a park that is so near my home. Due to the fast growing popularity of pickleball the 2 pickleball courts at Osage doesnot adequately meet the demand for court time. I am hoping that the town of Danville will find common ground with those opposing expansion and proceed with plans to provide additional pickleball courts at Osage Station Park. Thanks, Ron Fong From:Patrick McKenzie To:Gail Massagli Subject:Wed Nov 9 - Agenda item 4.3 Date:Tuesday, November 8, 2022 8:44:51 PM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. Dear commission members, I am a resident of the Greenbrook/Brookside neighborhood and live within walking distanceof Osage Station Park. I go there at least once a week with my family. There are a lot of thingsthat I like about the park. I appreciate its multi-use functionality and its beauty. Every part ofthe park is in use every time I visit. I do notice that the pickle ball courts are always full and I agree with adding a few more. Ithink it would be reasonable to have 4 tennis courts and 4 pickle ball courts. Any more thanthis would detract from the multi-use functionality of the park and negatively impact theneighborhood. There are already parking issues as the park currently stands. The addition of numerous pickleball courts would only add to this. I am also concerned about the extra traffic next to themiddle school. I question the decision to add a significant number of pickle ball courts to one park. Would itnot serve the community better to add a few courts to multiple parks? Is the ultimate goal tomonetize pickle ball tournaments? If so, I would not put them in the middle of a residentialneighborhood and next to a school. The Sycamore Valley park has 8 bocce ball courts and Ihave only ever seen one in use. Might it not be reasonable to covert some of those to pickleball courts? One final comment. I think it would irresponsible to spend money on extra pickle ball courtswhen Greenbrook avenue remains in disrepair following a sewer overhaul. It appears thatthere was not enough money in the budget to re-pave the street. I cannot, I’m good conscience,support this project before fixing Greenbrook avenue. Patrick C. McKenzie From:P. J. To:Gail Massagli Subject:November 9, 2022, Agenda #4.3 Pickleball Courts at Osage Station Park Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 1:51:13 AM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. RE: November 9, 2022, Agenda #4.3 Pickleball Courts at Osage Station Park I am in opposition to the expansion of the pickelball courts in Osage Park. Wehave lived on El Capitan Dr for 37 years, and have since the building ofCharlotte Wood School been subject to increasing traffic and noise at all hoursof the day and night. Expanding the pickleball courts to encourage moreevents that specifically will increase the need for parking and increased traffic,especially on the weekends, gives the residents no reprieve from thecongestion and noise. It seems all forget this is a residential neighborhood andthe rights of the residents should be considered. From:Barbs To:Gail Massagli Subject:Nov 9th meeting, agenda item 4.3 - support for additional pickleball courts at Osage Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 8:04:29 AM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. To the Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission: I am writing in support of the proposed construction of additional pickleball courts at Osage Park. As a Danville resident I enjoy playing pickleball, getting to know myneighbors and fellow pickleball players. The 2 courts that are there are well used and in the mornings there are often 8 to 12 players (or more) waiting to play. I know there has been a lot of opposition to the expansion from neighbors and manyrumors about the construction as well as the impact of these courts. I have lived close to Osage for 36 years. My children attended Baldwin and Charlotte Wood, participated on soccer at Osage and made good use of the playground. As asenior citizen living near the park, my only use of the park was for walking. With the addition of the pickleball courts I now enjoy the physical fitness and social interaction that is so important as we age. I hope that the commission will consider both sides and approve construction of 6 pickleball courts. By limiting to 6 courts there would be less concern for traffic and noise. Thank you for your consideration Barbara Fong Danville resident Sent from my iPad From:Henry Perezalonso To:Gail Massagli Subject:FW: Pickleball at Osage Park Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 8:12:42 AM FYI... Henry Perezalonso, CPRE Recreation, Arts & Community Services Director Town of Danville | (925) 314-3454 -----Original Message----- From: Henry Perezalonso Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 8:12 AM To: diane preas < Subject: RE: Pickleball at Osage Park Diane, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to the Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRE Recreation, Arts & Community Services Director Town of Danville | (925) 314-3454 -----Original Message----- From: diane preas <> Sent: Tuesday, November 8, 2022 7:42 PM To: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov> Subject: Pickleball at Osage Park ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. My name is Diane Preas , my husband and I have lived in Danville for 40 years. We have enjoyed our beautiful location which backs up to Osage Park and feel blessed to have our home overlook the beauty of the green grass and watch the leaves fall in the Autumn. We have always loved being able to walk our dogs in the park and enjoy the peace and quiet at the end of our day watching the children play and families just being together. The park is a beautiful tribute to those who have given their lives for our freedom or those whose loved ones have passed and the loving messages to those who have lost their friends, parents and loved ones. It seems like this is all about to change without us even being notified in advance, none of our immediate neighbors or ourselves were aware that the town planned to take out a large green grassy area and put in 12 or more pickleball courts. Why were we homeowners not notified, wouldn’t you want to be if your home backed up to this park? I first noticed an unusual pop pop sound last spring while working in the backyard tending my flowers. We are notfar from the tennis courts but they were never an issue for us in fact to their credit, I enjoyed seeing others play andexercise and they are never loud or play loud music. The pop pop noise is there in the morning during spring and summer pickleball is being played until after eight inthe evening and to my under standing sometimes as many as 20 people waiting their turns and playing their music. Danville has many beautiful parks and several do no back up to homes or busy streets where schools and youngchildren are crossing coming home from school. Parks such as Sycamore, Diablo Vista would be much safer and setaway from heavy traffic areas. Orange Blossom is one of those streets that is so windy it is challenging to navigatethru the area with cars parking on both sides already. Many parents seem to use the parking area near the tennis courts already to pick their children up, I cannot imagineit being more crowded in that area if many more pickleball players park there. To me it seems like it wouldn’t bedifficult for an accident to happen there. Please we beg you to reconsider adding more pickleball courts in an already congested area. Our beautifulmemorial park deserves to remain just that, a serene peaceful park and neighborhood. Thank you in advance for your consideration. Respectfully, Diane Meacham Preas Sent from my iPad From:Willmin Tang To:Gail Massagli Subject:Osage Pickleball expansion Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 8:15:06 AM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. Hello Gail, I would like to express my support for the expansion of pickleball courts at Osage park. Playing pickleball is a very healthy activity for both the young and old, and a great way to getto know people in your community. Thanks for your support, Willmin Tang From:Henry Perezalonso To: Cc:Newell Arnerich; David Fong; Robert Storer; Renee Morgan; Karen Stepper; Adam Falcon; randalldiamond@sbcglobal.net; imesic@danville.ca.gov; Joe Lindsey; Jane Joyce; smascali@danville.ca.gov; Sabrina Brandeis; Charles Neary; Gail Massagli; Carol Mascali; Jenna Mesic Subject:RE: Pickleball at Osage Memorial Park Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 8:16:35 AMRoger, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information has been received by theParks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m.tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRERecreation, Arts & Community Services DirectorTown of Danville | (925) 314-3454 From: roger <> Sent: Tuesday, November 8, 2022 8:56 PM To: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov> Cc: Newell Arnerich <NArnerich@danville.ca.gov>; David Fong <dfong@danville.ca.gov>; Robert Storer <RStorer@danville.ca.gov>; Renee Morgan <RMorgan@danville.ca.gov>; Karen Stepper <KStepper@danville.ca.gov>; Adam Falcon <afalcon@danville.ca.gov>; randalldiamond@sbcglobal.net; imesic@danville.ca.gov; Joe Lindsey <jlindsey@danville.ca.gov>; Jane Joyce <jjoyce@danville.ca.gov>; smascali@danville.ca.gov; Sabrina Brandeis <sbrandeis@danville.ca.gov>; Charles Neary <cneary@danville.ca.gov> Subject: Pickleball at Osage Memorial Park ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognizethe sender and know the content is safe. Roger Johnson Danville California 94526 Henry Perezalonso, Director Recreation, Arts and Community Services Danville, California Dear Henry, With regard to your report on Osage Memorial Park Pickleball, I’d like to share the following thoughts: Traffic Generation Analysis: This is faulty and undercounts the real impact. The traffic counting ropes did not capture traffic on both sides of the parking lot to the pickleball courts: toward El Capitan and Brookside. Only the direction toward Brookside. El Cap will be much stronger and the numbers must be combined for the full picture during a full week when school is in session. It is worth noting that, because I live in the middle of the straight part of Orange Blossom, I regularly observe drivers who go at high speed down the street. This will almost certainly increase greatly with the added traffic. I had also made APPLICATION of a NTMP (Neighborhood Traffic Management Program), 3-22-2007 and 1-28-2016 which both were very close for the city to mitigate ways to slow down traffic. I made APPLICATION to initiate a new NTMP 10-3-2022 which I have not yet seen the results of at this time.The new application will not show any impact for the expansion of Pickleball courts at Osage Park.Our neighborhood has small streets and on every street there is a driveway from our homes to that street. Trip Generation P 12: Pickleball is NOT comparable to tennis. PB players regularly have 4 players on the courts full time PLUS all of the waiters on the side (4-5X the number actually playing). You surely know it is a factor given the plan to add “seating area with benches and shading”. You must account for these numbers in addition to the players on the court. Your counts are too low and therefore not valid for its intended purpose. Insufficient Parking: There is no question whatsoever that the current parking is insufficient for the added courts being proposed. So only 2 scenarios will follow: 1. Cars overflow onto OB and thereby greatly endanger safety due to the bend in the narrow road which is already a concern OR 2. The Town fully intends to convert the untouched grassy area to a parking lot in “response” to this growing inadequacy. In other words, take another bite out of Osage. Osage Memorial Park:The park is not suitable for a pickleball venue since it is in a residential neighborhood with two schools, one is part of the park (Charlotte Wood Middle) and another just under two blocks away (John Baldwin Elementary). During the week there are 1,300 school-aged children under the age 13 years old, where many may be in the streets going to and from these two schools who would contend with hundreds of more cars with the proposed venue . Summation: We continue to know that Osage Park as a residential area is not a suitable location for a pickleball venue, as evidenced by issues in communities across the country, including Walnut Creek which has 8 courts.Selecting Osage Park as a pickleball venue would worsen an already highly congested and unsafe environment for our children and pedestrians between Charlotte Wood Middle and John Baldwin Elementary Schools and infringe on the rights of the surrounding neighbors who should be protected by Danville’s General Noise Regulations. The existing two pickleball courts need sound mitigation to the satisfaction of surrounding neighbors, or should be converted back to a tennis court. If not, it highly disrupts this memorial park’s charm, beauty and tranquility. Thank you, Roger Johnson From:CALVIN WONG To:Gail Massagli Subject:Osage Pickleball Courts Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 8:18:38 AM ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member! Do notclick on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Gail: I have written before supporting the addition of new pickleball courts at Osage Station Park. I am writing again to say that I have seen the latest proposed plans for the addition of 6-8 pickleball courts and Ibelieve they are good solutions that address the wishes as well as the concerns of the neighborhood. Thanks, Calvin WongDanville resident since 1983 From:B Yeh To:Gail Massagli Subject:Support for Pickleball expansion Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 8:36:55 AM ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member! Do notclick on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear council members, I am a happy Pickleball player. I love playing & I hope the town of Danville expands the Pickleball courts at Osagepark. I support whatever number the council decides upon but would prefer the 8 court expansion. It is notsurprising that there can be quite a wait to play a Pickleball game most mornings at Osage. Pickleball is a popularsport for all ages but especially for retirees. It’s also fosters friendships within the community which is somethingevery town & city should want to foster. Without Pickleball I would never have met & made friendships with mostof the players at Osage. I am a relatively new Danville resident. I moved to the Crow Canyon country club area in2016. I’ve been active with the Alamo Danville newcomers club, a women's group & adding Pickleball to myactivities has enhanced my connection with the Danville community. I believe we need to be cognizant of the impact of Pickleball on the homes near the park. We should take steps tomitigate the sounds with a sound barrier fabric that was mentioned in the towns report on the expansion. We want tobe good neighbors & generate goodwill with the neighbors. I’ve read the very thorough report the town didregarding traffic, parking, road safety & noise & was quite impressed with the research that was done. As othertowns & cities ie San Ramon & Pleasanton develop their plans for adding Pickleball courts to their cities thedemand at Osage park should diminish as people find courts closer to their homes. Again,I hope the courts at Osage will be expanded. Thank you Barbara Yeh Danville, CA 94526 From:Henry Perezalonso To:Leeann Cc:Gail Massagli Subject:RE: Osage Park Pickle Ball Courts Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:02:32 AMLeean, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to theParks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m.tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRERecreation, Arts & Community Services DirectorTown of Danville | (925) 314-3454 From: Leeann <> Sent: Tuesday, November 8, 2022 9:16 PM To: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov> Subject: Osage Park Pickle Ball Courts ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognizethe sender and know the content is safe. I would like to go on record that I oppose the addition of any additional Pickle Ball Courts at Osage Park. I’ve lived in my home for forty two years, I enjoy walks in the park, the noise from the Pickle Ball paddles hitting the plastic ball disturbs the tranquil atmosphere of the park, it is very annoying. I would like to request that something be done about the noise from the two existing Pickle Ball courts, now. Sincerely, Leeann Brown , Danville Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS From:Henry Perezalonso To:Melanie Huff Cc:Gail Massagli Subject:RE: Wed 11/9/22 Osage pickleball agenda Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:03:13 AM Melanie, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to the Parks, Recreation, and ArtsCommission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRERecreation, Arts & Community Services DirectorTown of Danville | (925) 314-3454 -----Original Message-----From: Melanie Huff <>Sent: Tuesday, November 8, 2022 10:25 PMTo: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov>; Gail Massagli <gmassagli@danville.ca.gov>Subject: Wed 11/9/22 Osage pickleball agenda ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member! Do notclick on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hello, I am writing you in opposition of the expansion of the pickleball courts at Osage park. I am a resident of Danville,living just behind Osage park on Orange Blossom Way. I am opposed to this expansion as I am certain it will worsen an already highly congested area making it unsafe forchildren and pedestrians. I hope you take this email into your consideration on the matter. Thank you,Melanie Huff From:Henry Perezalonso To:Eric Huff; Gail Massagli Subject:RE: Wed 11/9/22 Osage pickleball agenda Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:03:40 AM Eric, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to the Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRE Recreation, Arts & Community Services Director Town of Danville | (925) 314-3454 -----Original Message----- From: Eric Huff > Sent: Tuesday, November 8, 2022 10:28 PM To: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov>; Gail Massagli <gmassagli@danville.ca.gov> Subject: Wed 11/9/22 Osage pickleball agenda ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hello, I am writing you in opposition of the expansion of the pickleball courts at Osage park. I am a resident of Danville, living just behind Osage park on Orange Blossom Way. I am opposed to this expansion as I am certain it will worsen an already highly congested area making it unsafe for children and pedestrians. I hope you take this email into your consideration on the matter. Sent from my iPhone From:Henry Perezalonso To:Julia Philbert Cc:Gail Massagli Subject:RE: 11/9/22 Pickle ball agenda item (Oppose) Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:04:51 AMJulia, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to theParks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m.tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRERecreation, Arts & Community Services DirectorTown of Danville | (925) 314-3454 From: Julia Philbert <> Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 6:57 AM To: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov> Subject: 11/9/22 Pickle ball agenda item (Oppose) ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognizethe sender and know the content is safe. I am a resident of Danville living at the cross street of Orange Blossom for 32 years. First of all I find it very disconcerting that we as Osage Park neighbors were not notified of this proposal several months ago. It feels like this has been pushed through under the radar without consideration of the residents.This will have a huge impact on our neighborhood with increased traffic, noise and safety issues with the children attending both Charlotte Wood and Baldwin. In the proposal it states that the field adjacent to the current pickle ball and tennis courts is underutilized. I totally disagree. I walk Osage Park almost every day at different times of the day. That field is used by the Charlotte Wood students for PE, t-ball for the little ones, soccer, rugby, and Boy Scouts as well as other activities. I love seeing families enjoying activities there as well as seeing the birds and other wildlife in the early mornings. Walnut Creek has had issues with 6 pickle ball courts and they don’t have schools close by. Currently Orange Blossom Way gets gridlocked at the parking lot by the courts at Charlotte Wood’s drop off and pick up times. It would be disastrous adding the increased pickle ball traffic! I truly hope the Park Commission considers the safety of our wonderful neighborhood. Julia Philbert From:Henry Perezalonso To:Jennifer Jo Wiseman Cc:Gail Massagli Subject:RE: Osage park is NOT the right place for additional pickleball courts Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:06:50 AMJennifer Jo, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to theParks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m.tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRERecreation, Arts & Community Services DirectorTown of Danville | (925) 314-3454 From: Jennifer Jo Wiseman > Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 7:57 AM To: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov> Subject: Osage park is NOT the right place for additional pickleball courts ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognizethe sender and know the content is safe. Dear Services Director, My family moved to Danville 12 years ago and chose our home on orange blossom based on the walkability of our neighborhood to Osage and schools. The park is a huge part of our lives and it is one of the gems in Danville. Over the last 12 years Osage has increased in activity for sporting practices and events of all types. The improvements in the park have been great, especially the playground, which is busy all the time. We already have significant overflow to the neighborhoods surrounding the park everyday. Safety of our walking and biking children is already a concern and we have been trying to get speed bumps on orange blossom to at least reduce the traffic speed. I understand pickleball players want courts, i enjoy the sport as well. Osage park is just not the right place for the pickleball destination of Danville. After listening to your meetings and reading public comments and staff reports it is apparent to me that Osage was a fast and cheap option to get a few courts going. After the courts started getting popular, we could see/hear the impact of just 2 courts. The current proposal is not just a few courts and the current situation at Osage park has not been considered. We already have problems with traffic, safety of pedestrians and yes noise, not to mention overflowing parking lots and cars parked everywhere along our streets. Your staff reports and your comments considering Osage as a pickleball destination with the original 14 court proposal highlights the lack of understanding of the park and it’s current activity level. Stepping back to 12 or 8 or 6 courts doesn’t fix that lack of understanding, in fact it highlights that the commission just wants whatever they can get now from the neighborhood and then continue to add future burden to an overflowing park. You have stated that the public is an important part of Danville planning and so I am asking you to pause and listen to the real concerns of the public. You have not presented the vision for pickleball in Danville and it is obvious that Osage has been targeted for a use that is just not appropriate. Other locations exist that do not put extra burden on an overflowing park and compromise the well being of families. Please do the right thing for Osage, pause, determine what the future vision is for pickleball and create solutions that do not ruin an incredible park and put children and families that live around that space at risk. Sincerely, Jennifer jo wiseman Sent from my iPad From:Henry Perezalonso To:Kim Van Hoesen Cc:Adam Falcon; randalldiamond@sbcglobal.net; Jenna Mesic; Joe Lindsey; Jane Joyce; Carol Mascali; Kevin Donovan; Sabrina Brandeis; Charles Neary; Gail Massagli; Newell Arnerich; David Fong; Robert Storer; Renee Morgan; Karen Stepper; Gail Massagli Subject:RE: Pickleball at Osage Park, opposition Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:09:30 AMKim, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information has been received by theParks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m.tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRERecreation, Arts & Community Services DirectorTown of Danville | (925) 314-3454 From: Kim Van Hoesen < Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 8:04 AM To: Adam Falcon <afalcon@danville.ca.gov>; randalldiamond@sbcglobal.net; Jenna Mesic <jmesic@danville.ca.gov>; Joe Lindsey <jlindsey@danville.ca.gov>; Jane Joyce <jjoyce@danville.ca.gov>; Carol Mascali <cmascali@danville.ca.gov>; Kevin Donovan <kdonovan@danville.ca.gov>; Sabrina Brandeis <sbrandeis@danville.ca.gov>; Charles Neary <cneary@danville.ca.gov>; Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov>; Gail Massagli <gmassagli@danville.ca.gov>; Newell Arnerich <NArnerich@danville.ca.gov>; David Fong <dfong@danville.ca.gov>; Robert Storer <RStorer@danville.ca.gov>; Renee Morgan <RMorgan@danville.ca.gov>; Karen Stepper <KStepper@danville.ca.gov> Subject: Pickleball at Osage Park, opposition ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognizethe sender and know the content is safe. To the members of the Danville Parks, Recreation, & Arts Commission and the Danville Town Council, I am writing to let you know that I am opposed to pickleball courts being added at Osage Park. I believe there is benefit to many in Danville to finding an appropriate place to add pickleball courts for the enjoyment of Danville residents, but I do not believe it is Danville’s duty to build a pickleball venue for the benefit of the tri-valley nor do I believe Osage Station Park is an appropriate place for a pickleball venue. There are some that might say that I am viewing this from a ‘not in my backyard’ mentality, and I would concede they are somewhat correct. Living off of Orange Blossom here is what I can tell you about Osage Park, our neighborhood park, ‘my backyard’. It is used, and used well. But we already have traffic and safety concerns that need to be addressed before even considering adding to them. Charlotte Wood Middle School uses the tennis court parking lot heavily! Cars line the circle two deep and so cars then line the streets on both sides making the Orange Blossom a one lane road at a busy time and worse is that cars then trying to get into the parking lot revert to using the exit as an entrance. All of this is extremely dangerous when you consider the volume of Charlotte Wood students going to that parking lot. Just yesterday I counted over 100 students leaving school through the tennis court parking lot. Currently Osage does host many sporting events, but the majority of these do not take place during school hours so do not severely impact student safety and learning. We did choose to move here – near a park and near a middle school. The park I moved near,as described on the town website “is known for its beautiful, memorial rose garden and children's play area with train station. This 35-acre park features four tennis courts, fourbaseball diamonds, several soccer fields, plus a path around the park.” It used to be that if I stood outside, I could hear occasional noise from the park and school, but now with the twopickle ball courts that were added I step outside and hear the sound of pickle ball at almost all times of the day – starting in the early morning and going well past sunset. I cannot imaginethe noise that would be generated by adding more courts and stands. Instead of looking atadding more courts the town should be looking at how to mitigate the noise from theexisting courts. “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” In this case we don’t need to look far, in either distance or time, to learn what doesn’t work. As Pickleball has gained inpopularity disputes are popping up in neighborhoods around the nation, including just up the road in Walnut Creek. It is not working for them when they placed 8 pickleball courts in aneighborhood park, I’m not sure why we think it would be different here. Danville – we can do better than this! Let’s learn from history and let’s work together to find positivealternatives that work for all involved. Kim Van Hoesen Danville Resident From:OSKAR NADJARI To:Gail Massagli Subject:Pickleball Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:22:36 AM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. I have been playing Pickleball since 2014 when I retired. I truly love this sport. I was a avid tennis player for many years and picked up this game very fast. It has kept me very active since I started. This is basically my main thing to do for exercise. Please keep in mind that there are not enough courts to play on since so many people havetaken on this game. We have all heard that it is the fastest sport in the entire country. If you take a survey of how many people are playing tennis compared to Pickleball, you can see why we need more courts to play on. I fully support more courts at Osage. I am in favor of 6 to 8 rater than 12 to 14. Thank you for considering this tobring up to the board. From:Chuck Wong To:Gail Massagli Subject:Osage pickleball Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 10:02:21 AM ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member! Do notclick on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. I am a player and enjoy the venue quite a lot. Chuck Wong Sent from my iPhone From:Henry Perezalonso To:Ted VH Cc:Gail Massagli Subject:RE: Osage pickle ball venue proposal Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 10:24:15 AMTed, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to theParks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m.tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRERecreation, Arts & Community Services DirectorTown of Danville | (925) 314-3454 From: Ted VH < Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:30 AM To: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov> Subject: Osage pickle ball venue proposal ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognizethe sender and know the content is safe. Hi, Sending this email to express my opposition to large academic pickle ball venue at Osage Oark. Two courts is fine and consistent with local play. Any more than that becomes a ve ue with many noise and traffic issues. Please divot approve mote pickle ball courts at Osage Oark. Thanks Ted Van Hoesen From:Carl Taibl To:Gail Massagli Subject:Support for Pickleball at Osage Station Park for 11/09/2022 meeting agenda item 4.3 Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 10:55:29 AM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. Town of Danville – Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission – I have read the 17-page Staff Report regarding Pickleball at Osage Station Park. This is very thorough and impressive and I support the recommendation to move forward. I have lived in Danville since 1999, I am less than 2 miles from Osage Park. We have used that facility for many sports but would be excited to use it as our prime pickleball location. Today my and I have to drive to Walnut Creek Rudgear Park to find the convenient drop-in play we enjoy. I work remotely at home and being able to show up and play between meetings or lunch is very enjoyable. From my five years’ experience at Rudgear Park I can provide some facts: · PARKING: There is a natural limit to the number of players who will show up as players don’t want to wait an hour between games. This will self-monitor the traffic and parking, and in fact many players come as couples, 2 to a car. · TRAFFIC: This concern is unfounded, as noted in the first point there will be a natural cap on the number of cars and speed limits or bumps can be installed if necessary. · NOISE: Good players do not want their equipment restricted, so the solution to purchase those tarps/blankets which can be hung over the top of fences to block noise While I have met many other Danville residents at hi Park I HIGHLY RECOMMEND creating more capacity in my home town where I can ride my bicycle to play. Regards, Carl Taibl Danville From:Anthony Romanelli To:Gail Massagli; Henry Perezalonso; Adam Falcon Cc:Chuck Preas; Laurinda Ochoa; Preserve Osage Subject:materials for 11.9.22 Parks, Rec & Arts Commission Meeting Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 10:58:03 AM Attachments:11.9.22 Parks Rec Arts Commission vsent.pdfAppendix A - Letter from Residents Bordering Osage.pdfAppendix B - Response to Staff Report 4.3.pdfAppendix D - Letter from Stuart Flashman Legal Counsel.pdf***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. Gail & Henry - please see materials for the Commissioner's reference during tonight'smeeting. This includes the items noted below. Thank you! - Preserve Osage Park presentation- Appendix A: Letter from neighboring residents- Appendix B: Response to Staff Report- Appendix C (not attached): Copy of petition signed by 1,700 community members. Original packet submitted to Town Council on Tuesday 11/1. This plus additionalsignatures will be submitted to Parks, Recreation & Arts Commission. We will try tosend separately today electronically (file size is very large)- Appendix D: Copy of letter sent by Stuart Flashman Preserve Osage Park Town of Danville Parks, Recreation & Arts Commission Pickleball Discussion November 9, 2022 Noise 3 Staff Report proposed mitigations •Quieter paddles: How would this be enforced? Do we expect the pickleball community to all purchase new paddles? •Hours of operation: Park hours are not enforced today; how will they be in the future? •Sound barrier: Focus should shift to remediate noise for the existing two courts; do not create more problems that needs mitigation. 10 Traffic & Safety 11 Recommendations 15 November 8, 2022 From: Residents bordering Osage Park To: The Town Council of Danville and The Parks, Recreation & Arts Commission of Danville We the residents of Danville who border Osage Park have issues with the existing two pickleball courts, which cause discomfort and annoyance when in our yards and/or homes. Our grievances include the following: - From early morning to evening, when the courts are in use, the sound of pickleball is audible from our homes due to the high-pitched sound of the ball hitting the paddle. This reduces our ability to find peace while at home. - The proposed plans for adding more courts is a source of stress, as we know it will only magnify the existing problem. We respectfully request that the Town finds a solution to remediate the noise associated with the existing two pickleball courts or plan to convert them back to a tennis court. Communities across the nation, including Walnut Creek and Berkeley are learning that pickleball is not appropriate for residential areas, and we ask the Town to shift its focus to find appropriate non-residential alternatives to meet the growing demand. Respectfully, Neighbors attesting to current pickleball noise disruption Note: This is not an exhaustive list as some neighbors were out of town or unavailable to sign. 1 Response to Staff Report 4.3 Summary Many Danville residents, both hyper-local to Osage and beyond, strongly oppose any expansion of pickleball and tennis in Osage park. Their explicit concerns are fact based: 1. noise generated by existing 2 court pickleball pilot has not been addressed. 2. noise created by additional pickleball courts will be unacceptably burdensome to abutting neighbors and park visitors 3. safety, school, traffic and parking issues, that pre-date the pilot, will be drastically compounded. Respectfully, they ask The Commission to: 1. Correct the issues identified with Osage’s current facilities, including:  Professional noise/sound evaluation and remediation of existing two pickleball courts; if unsuccessful convert back to a tennis court  Professional traffic/pedestrian safety evaluation and remediation 2. Determine total Danville pickleball needs and evaluate vs. all potential solutions  Develop and consider a wider view of potential spaces and strategic partnerships  Develop and consider site assessment criteria that includes impact to residents (home location, pedestrian safety, congestion)  Engage local community and consultants for discussion based site assessments  Develop multiple solutions for consideration Specific Concerns on Background The Strategic plan from 2017 is not specific on the types of projects or the schedule of projects. The underlying assumption in that plan is that it is subservient to the 2030 Town of Danville general plan. In the beginning of the 2017 plan, it states that the tie to the 2030 general plan contains goal 12 which states “with streets that safely and comfortably accommodate pedestrians, bicycles in addition to motor vehicles.” That seems to read that you can’t randomly apply the goals stated in the staff report without meeting the standards in the 2030 plan. Understand that the parks plan contained reference to new activities, but no locations were specified. The assumption is that as opportunities came up, an official project would be opened with the appropriate rigor to evaluate current state and recommend multiple solutions. When pickleball was brought to council on Nov 22, 2020 meeting, it was that Danville wanted to try some pickleball – since no funds were allocated, converting existing tennis was the fastest and lowest cost option. 2 Only 2 locations in parks had tennis (Diablo Vista and Osage). The other two town locations were high schools. High schools were not an option due to school hour limitation. Osage had 4 courts and Diablo vista only had 2. The commission decided that Converting one of Osage’s courts offered the least impact to tennis players at the lowest cost. There was not an understanding that Osage was now the pickleball destination for Danville and slated to be expanded. No long-term needs were established, so it was viewed as low risk. Originally, they were to do 4 PB courts, but only could get 2 into the footprint. Project continues, courts become busier as players find out about the Osage courts. Fast forward to July 13, 2022- the report says that was when the additional pickleball project was evaluated. The problem is with the staff report on options, there are no needs stated except “more pickleball,” not what the end goal is for Danville. Going from a pilot of 2 courts to 14 courts appears to be based on “how many can fit”. Site evaluation did not include a set of criteria, enough potential locations or baseline data, therefore the Osage option was chosen basically by preference of group- not because it was the best option for pickleballers or the Town. In short, Osage park was deemed by staff to be optimal because of being able to expand on the existing courts footprint, bathrooms, parking and the possibility of having a snack shack. Not because of it making sense for a given set of criteria that was important to consider pickleballers’ needs or neighborhood/park well-being and unique characteristics (i.e. proximity to existing homes and nearby schools, limited parking, capacity limitations of residential streets, and safety of residents and pedestrians). Here are some of the commissions comments on July 13 when voting for Osage 14/4.  “The public is unanimous on Osage”  “I’m envisioning a net sports destination complex complete with amenities”  “This is an opportunity to raise Danville’s esteem in the area”  “We need to keep the train moving “  “Merged (14/4) is the option the public really wants. “  “Merged option (14/4) is optimal for community”  Merged (14/4) at OSAGE is best for the community.”  “Let’s get the pickleball to the people” Superficial reasons were given for excluding other options. The only choice if you wanted more pickleball was Osage given that report, so of course pickleballers agreed- they just want more pickleball- understandably. It is the parks committee’s duty to facilitate discussions and produce accurate and complete data on current state of locations where capital projects are recommended. Written comments supporting the site are clearly “pro” pickleball in general, which we are not arguing. The location has only been included since Osage was the only option where pickleball was possible based on the Park committee’s recommendation. 3 Since the start in Nov 2020, the current landscape for pickleball has changed as well as the parks in Danville. Several towns added courts and more seem to be planned in the vicinity, for example: San Ramon: 4, Blackhawk: 6, Pleasanton: 6, Alamo: 2,Dublin: 4-6,Livermore: 4-6,Walnut Creek: 8,Concord: 14. There are also renovation projects, for example at Diablo vista park where pickleball could be planned right into the renovation. The bottom line is that we understand pickleball needs more courts, but have not seen the future of what the commission is planning for pickleball in Danville. Specific concerns with Staff Report 4.3: P 6: Noticing of Meetings: 300 feet of park is wholly insufficient. The objective of notice is to notify impacted individuals and that includes stakeholders surrounding Osage: residents on El Capitan, Brookside, Paraiso, Greenbrook, and Orange Blossom at a minimum. This also includes immediate cul de sacs like Meadowlark, Canary, and others. Also, EVERY parent of a Charlotte Wood Middle School and John Baldwin Elementary student. Nearly every time we share the plan with the immediate population and parents, the first comment is: “I didn’t know,” followed by concern. The Town touts “community- driven decisions” therefore, please tell us/them and invite us to the table. It is interesting that pickleball enthusiasts recommended the project and knew about the staff work before the residents of park areas did. No neighborhood discussion or interaction was taken to engage those that understand the actual current state of park usage and impact to neighborhood. Simply following laws regarding notices and meeting minutes is not in the spirit of the vision/mission of the committee. Environmental Review – see letter by Stuart Flashman. Limited Hours of Operation: How will the Town enforce an 8 am start time? Posted hours are of no consequence. Will the Town lock and unlock the doors daily? Nothing else will successfully limit the play time so please remove this “mitigation” if it has no real intent or ability to successfully prohibit entry. Additionally, a virtual “metronome” of the “Click/Clack” of paddles and balls for 10 hours a day vs 12 is little concession. It’s still persistent, daily, year-round disturbance and an unacceptable intrusion on the neighborhood and park’s current tranquility. Use of the PB courts has steadily increased to now where you can have up to many (20+) people waiting on the sidelines. That is why noise issues were less in the beginning, but they certainly are not now. Sound – see letter by Stuart Flashman. P 6/7: There are no “potential” noise considerations. In fact, noise is consistently one of THE primary complaints associated with PB. The fact that the document cites mitigation efforts such as different paddles, reducing the time of play and adding sound-absorbing walls indicates that the Town is very much aware of the noise issues associated with PB. Studies highlighted were all situations where sound had to be managed and 50 db were standards. However, reducing the db does not fix the human effect of “making me crazy.” The only fix really is an indoor facility or one where no houses are nearby. Court placement. 4 It is not only distance, since sound is carried differently. By placing courts away from houses on one side, it pushes the noise into the park events with kids and to houses on the other side. Because the area proposed is basically surrounded by activities, sound cannot really be managed effectively for all. Other pickleball facilities are sited as examples in staff reports and verbal comments with only the distance from the courts considered and this is not seeing the full picture. For example, Willow Pass has houses only on one side outside of park, across railroad tracks. All other sides are basically empty land, so a much better configuration. Rudgear is in a neighborhood like Osage and we can see what that does – there is deep conflict brewing, and the courts may be moved to Heather Farms. Sound barrier and equipment. You obviously realize we have a sound problem…who would mandate equipment, what happens if you don’t use it, really? Town noise ordinance. Doesn’t it count that the general plan of Danville has said what is acceptable in a residential area, figure 26 in general plan? The Town's reference to 90 db or greater as a benchmark for acceptable sound levels is concerning. Noise ordinances aren't to prevent hearing damage, they are for peace and quiet at one's home which is more commonly set at a 50db - 60 db level in noise ordinances. Further, Goal 27.09 of Danville's 2030 General Plan aims to maintain noise levels below averages of 60 decibels including residential backyards. Danville's noise ordinance also specifically calls out the unusual nature of noise, so we should not just be focusing on decibels -- we should be looking at this holistically. Pickleball is well documented to have pitch/frequency levels of 1000-2000 hertz which is a nuisance to neighbors. Nationwide backlash against pickleball has led to recommendations by sound acoustic professionals to keep pickleball over 500 feet from residences. School Safety P 10: The School District does not represent the voice of actual parents. They must be made aware and invited into the conversation. 3 collisions since April ’21 proves that student safety is a valid concern that will not be sufficiently remediated by a crossing guard placed beyond the intersection in question: El Capitan and Orange Blossom (& leaves the other end of OB unmitigated (66 kids on average go to and from school on this route every day = 132 unmitigated daily crossings of the youngest students, K-5). Plus, you are going to have a LOT of angry parents when the flow is further compromised and slowed down. Those of us with a bird’s eye view on this situation for more than 20 years see with absolute clarity the nightmare that is coming. The Town would do well to view us as assets and partners in anticipating the real effects. The better solution is to not add to this congestion in the first place. Some data to consider:  The South lot has a 61 car capacity (plus three handicapped spots).  There are often over 50 parent cars; several are log-jammed at the entrance to the lot and circle. The Town staff falsely reports the peak as 21 cars.  If 6-8 pickleball courts open with parking in this very same lot they would bring as many as 60 pickleball cars (~20 players are present with the 2 courts today multiplied by four = 80 players... not all will drive or arrive in separate cars).  So the real math here is 50 + 60 = 110 cars in a parking lot that accommodates 61. Even if you use the Town staff's significant underestimate of 25 pickleball cars, the lot is still over capacity with 75 cars and a dangerous pick-up environment. As an important side note, during my observation, I saw at least two cars enter the lot speeding through the exit lane (wrong direction!). 5 Some questions to consider:  What happens for the 50 families that rely on this South lot as a relief valve to safely pick up their children every day?  What happens when the crossing guard arrives in front of Charlotte Wood, and traffic is backed up even more or grid-locked at the corner of El Cap and Orange Blossom?  Will children be safe greeting their parents in a parking lot bursting at the seams with masses of pickleball players' cars entering and exiting the lot?  Are the Town/Commission staff taking a close enough look at the safety of Charlotte Wood and John Baldwin children or are they prioritizing "more pickleball" as quickly as possible?  Why would SRVUSD and our community welcome significant volumes of NEW traffic to an already fragile School Zone? Please also note that the mention of the new crossing guard below from the Town staff does not help the South parking lot and the worst intersection in question (Orange Blossom Way at El Cap). We are urging the Commission to slow down, engage the community, and do a professional study so they can be more familiar with our area and the unintended consequences of adding such a pickleball venue. Flood Zone Understand it is not designated a flood zone, but water needs to drain off. Osage and CWMS have flooded previously. Proposal removes grassy “sponge” areas and replaces with significant concrete which further displaces water runoff. Isn’t mitigation of the water drainage necessary? Where is the feasibility on that for their recommended location? Trip Generation P 12: Pickleball is NOT comparable to tennis. See letter from Stuart Flashman. PB regularly has 4 players on the courts full time PLUS all of the waiters on the side (4-5X the number actually playing). We have photographic evidence of this phenomenon. You surely know it is a factor given the plan to add “seating area with benches and shading”. You must account for these numbers in addition to the players on the court. Your counts are very much too low and therefore not valid for its intended purpose. Traffic numbers are faulty and undercounts the real impact. The traffic counting ropes did not capture traffic on both sides of the parking lot to the pickleball courts: toward El Cap and Brookside. Only the direction toward Brookside was measured. El Cap will be much stronger and they must be done at the same time and combined for the full picture during a full week when school is in session. *It is worth noting that an average of 8 cars / hour (minimum) regularly not only fail to stop, but go at high speed through the stop sign. This will almost certainly increase greatly with the added real traffic. Perhaps you’d like to quantify this as well in your studies. Real data is very helpful to get the full picture. The current traffic volume, safety, etc is already precarious. Volume is only one way to characterize traffic and its effect on residents. Trip generation and volume are simply a few ways to characterize impact, we actually counted bodies of school children and pedestrians during rush hours and came up with 524/day on Orange Blossom alone and yet the corner of Paraiso and Brookside will also see impact as that is a well-traveled route to Osage as well. Speed is also an issue, as evidenced by all of the little reminders to “please slow down” that now dot the roads in question. You probably also know that Roger Johnson has been working with the town to install speed bumps for years, so this is not a new problem. 6 Insufficient Parking: There is no question whatsoever that the current parking is insufficient for the added courts being proposed. The Lot is full many times, particularly on weekends. No extra capacity. So only 2 scenarios will follow: 1. Cars will overflow onto OB and thereby greatly endanger safety due to the bend in the narrow road which is already a concern (does not allow for 2-way traffic when people parallel park on OB), OR 2. The Town fully intends to convert the untouched grassy area to a parking lot in “response” to this growing inadequacy. In other words, take another bite out of Osage. And if this is part of your intent, it must be declared now and included for full evaluation. Not slipped in after the fact as if you didn’t know. You do. Court configurations. This highlights two points made earlier: 1. Town doesn’t know what they need in number of courts; seems arbitrary although no number is preferable. 2. There is no long-range vision shared or discussed about Osage. Suspect they are planning to expand again in phases not mentioned here to not trigger appropriate evaluation? Proper Strategic planning gives the opportunity to discuss long-range options so problems aren’t generated in future. We are asking for a pause, create a future state for Danville pickleball and evaluate creative solutions with well thought out criteria based on total community needs. Consideration to move forward with what? Staff Report 4.3 still includes data for an 18-court option. Why is that? Trust is eroding in the transparency of the officials charged with this decision that impacts many, many families who have worked really hard to be able to live here, and who seek to protect it with utmost integrity. We very reasonably expect the Town and Parks & Rec Committee to include us in this endeavor. Law Offices of Stuart M. Flashman 5626 Ocean View Drive Oakland, CA 94618-1533 (510) 652-5373 (voice & FAX) e-mail: stu@stuflash.com November 7, 2022 Parks, Recreation & Arts Commission Attn: Henry Perezalonso, Director Town of Danville 510 La Gonda Way Danville, CA 94526 Re: Proposed expansion of pickleball courts at Osage Station Park. Dear Commissioners, I am writing on behalf of my clients, a group of Danville residents that live near the above-referenced park, concerning the proposal that has been forward to the Town to expand the number of pickleball courts at the park. While the original proposal was to increase from the current two to a total of fourteen, the staff report for Wednesday’s meeting now proposes to reduce the number to “no more than eight courts total.” However, this would still be a four-fold increase. This expansion has been proposed without any environmental review under CEQA - the California Environmental Quality Act, based on a staff determination that it is exempt from CEQA review in reliance on Categorical Exemption Class 1 - minor expansion to an existing public facility (California Code of Regulations, Chapter 14, Section 15301). That exemption, however, is inapplicable to the proposed project. First, it is clear that, unless the exemption applies, the project, as a discretionary decision of the Town, would be subject to CEQA review. As for the proposed Class 1 exemption, that exemption is limited to projects “involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that previously existing…” However, the proposal here would involve up to a four-fold expansion of the pickleball court use. The Town apparently takes the position that because there is already a significant amount of active park use in other areas of Osage Station Park, the expansion of pickleball use would be negligible and the project would still fall under the CEQA exemption. The Town is mistaken. First, the expansion of the park area used for the combination of tennis and pickleball would be significant, not just “negligible” as required by the exemption. The total area involved would, based on a photomontage of the proposed project, almost double. As already noted, the area involved in pickleball use itself would increase by up to four-fold. That is not a “negligible” amount. Further, the impacts of pickleball use are significantly different, and more severe, than those of tennis and other park uses. Also, the proposed pickleball expansion is far closer to neighboring residential areas than are other significant noise-generating park uses (e.g., softball fields). As the Town should be well aware, noise levels are related to the inverse square of the distance between a point source and the receptor. (See appended article, taken from: https://www.acoustical.co.uk/distance-attenuation/how- sound-reduces-with-distance-from-a-point-source/ (accessed 11/7/2022.) Comment letter on Osage Station Park Pickleball Project November 7, 2022 Page 2 It is also worth noting that for an extended linear source, such as a row of pickleball courts, noise level drops inversely to the distance, not with the square - i.e., noise drops off much more slowly with distance. Again, any standard acoustic handbook can confirm this. (See, e.g., https://www.wkcgroup.com/sound-attenuation-calculator-line-source/ accessed 11/7/2022 (see below) Comment letter on Osage Station Park Pickleball Project November 7, 2022 Page 3 While both tennis and pickleball involve hitting a ball with a racket, a tennis racket is made of semi-elastic webbing, and the game is played using a relatively soft air-inflated ball. Pickleball, by contrast is played using a hard racket and a relatively inelastic hard ball. As a result the noise made when the racket hits the ball is considerably louder in pickleball than it is in tennis. The staff report itself acknowledges that publicly available noise levels from pickleball court installations are in the range of 60-70 dBA. It should be noted, however, that the pickleball noise analyses provided with the staff report were generally deficient in failing to identify the number of courts in pay during the noise measurements and often failing to specify the distance between the players producing the sound and the measurement point for the sound. Despite these deficiencies, all three studies concluded that pickleball noise, if not mitigated, would result in significant noise impacts on nearby receptors. In short, the reports referenced in the Town’s own staff report show that, due to the extensive increase in pickleball use, the proposed project can be expected to generate significant noise impacts both on the surrounding park area and, perhaps even more importantly, on the resident homes located very close to the proposed pickleball courts. These impacts are likely to be even more significant when one takes into account that there has already been discussion of adding overhead lighting to allow for nighttime use of the courts. As you may be aware, although Danville’s regulations limiting noise generation (Danville Municipal Code § 4-2.3 (General Noise Regulations) are not as precise of those used by other communities, they do require any consideration of noise impacts take into account a number of factors, including not only the noise volume but also: • whether it is usual or unusual • the proximity of the noise to sleeping facilities • the time of day when the noise occurs • the duration of the noise • whether it is continuous, recurrent, or intermittent • whether the noise is likely to result in complaints from the surrounding neighborhood Based on these factors and the evidence provided with the Town’s own staff report, it is abundantly clear that, without mitigation, the Project is likely to result in significant noise impacts. (See, e.g., Pacific Grove sound consultant letter from Exant Acoustical Consulting, Inc. at pp. 1-2, 5.) This is all the more true, as several of the consultant analyses point out, because the sharp, percussive nature of noise from pickleball ball-paddle strikes is particularly annoying. The staff report provides what it asserts are comparable noise levels for common sounds. However, these supplied noise levels are deceptive because they do not, as provided in the staff report, take into account the distance between the noise generator and the receptor. This is evident from the Sun City noise consultant letter, which notes that the vacuum cleaner noise (70 dBA) was measured a 3 feet, as was normal conversation (~65 dBA), while a motorcycle (90 dBA) was measured at 50 feet, as was a diesel truck (~85 dBA}. The sound studies referenced in the staff report ALL recommend various mitigation measures to reduce pickleball noise levels to acceptable levels, and the staff report suggests including several such measures, including limiting playing hours, placement of sound barriers, and limiting types of rackets allowed. However, these proposed measures only demonstrate that use of a CEQA exemption is simply inappropriate. Indeed, what all of the additional information provided with the staff report shows is that, even if a Class I exemption might be appropriate for adding some types of park use, the Comment letter on Osage Station Park Pickleball Project November 7, 2022 Page 4 unusually loud and intrusive nature of pickleball court noise, plus the nearby location of residences, make this an unusual circumstance necessitating CEQA review of the proposed project. (See, California Code of Regulations § 15300.2(c).) In addition to the noise impacts, the pickleball expansion project may have adverse pedestrian safety impacts due to the accompanying increase in local auto traffic to/from the park, especially considering the middle school adjoining the park. The CEQA analysis also needs to address these potential impacts. My clients do not necessarily believe that a full environmental impacts report should be required. However, the studies referenced in the staff report do indicate that there are potentially significant noise impacts from the project, requiring at the very least that an initial study and a mitigated negative declaration be prepared, including analysis by a qualified acoustic consultant to validate the adequacy of any mitigation measures proposed. Any CEQA analysis should also consider pedestrian safety impacts and the impacts from the reasonably foreseeable addition of overhead lighting and of audience stands to hold spectators for expected pickleball tournaments. In addition, while not necessarily part of CEQA review, the Town should also consider other potential project impacts, and how they might be mitigated, including the need for additional off-street parking for pickleball players and spectators (including secondary impacts on other park space and activities) and traffic impacts,. The analyses of these potential impacts and any proposed mitigation should also be conducted by adequately credentialed professionals in the respective areas. The Town should further consider whether any of the mitigation measures proposed to address potentially significant impacts may have associated secondary impacts, which in turn may require mitigation. Please feel free to call me if you need clarification. Please provide me with copies of any further documents relating to this project or its approval. Most sincerely Stuart M. Flashman cc: Joe Calabrigo Rob Ewing Adam Falcon From:Henry Perezalonso To: Cc:Gail Massagli Subject:RE: Opposition to today"s pickleball agenda item Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 10:58:52 AMThomas, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to theParks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m.tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRERecreation, Arts & Community Services DirectorTown of Danville | (925) 314-3454 From: thomas Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 10:55 AM To: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov> Subject: Opposition to today's pickleball agenda item ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognizethe sender and know the content is safe. Mr. Perezalanso, Regarding today's Parks and Rec agenda item to discuss the expansion of pickleball courts in Osage Park, I would formally like to go on record as opposing any such action. I have been a resident of Danville for over 30 years. I have never during those 30 years felt the need to get involved with the decisions of your department, but this plan to create a pickleball venue in Osage Park has compelled me to speak out against your proceedings in the strongest possible way. Clearly, it has not been created with any consideration of the profound negative impact it will have on the safety of our school children, noise, parking and interference with the use of Osage Park by the rest of the community. Please find an alternate site to use in order to satisfy the special interest group pressuring you to meet their demands with Danville tax dollars. Thank You, Thomas Philbert Danville CA 94526 From:Henry Perezalonso To:Victor F Stanton; Gail Massagli Subject:RE: 11/9/2022 Pickleball 4.3 Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 10:59:50 AM Jane, Thank you for your email. Please note that your information will be forwarded to the Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission for review before their meeting at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Henry Henry Perezalonso, CPRE Recreation, Arts & Community Services Director Town of Danville | (925) 314-3454 -----Original Message----- From: Victor F Stanton Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 10:49 AM To: Gail Massagli <gmassagli@danville.ca.gov> Cc: Henry Perezalonso <HPerezalonso@danville.ca.gov> Subject: 11/9/2022 Pickleball 4.3 ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Park Commissioners and Town Staff, I attended the most recent in-person Town Council meeting where a large number of the community was present regarding pickleball noise and rumored changes that were being proposed to Osage Park. I listened to several members of the community address their concerns and personal distress over the current pickleball courts at Osage Station Park and rumored proposals to add several more pickleball courts, including the plan to create event seating in order hold tournaments. It wasn’t my intention to speak and I didn’t have a prepared statement however, I did speak at the end of the public comments. I was concerned with what I was seeing and hearing. I looked around and I saw many of the same Osage area neighbors that were at the meetings back in 2010. Many of these neighbors were involved with the initially planning and development of Osage Park. In 2010, I was one of several community members that participated in the community meetings that took place. At that time, community members residing in the area of Osage Park came to question several proposed changes to Osage Park. We asked the Park Commissioners and Town Staff to consider our understanding of what Osage Park was created for, our experiences, and concerns before voting and making any decisions. The commissioners at that time did listen to the community, as did the Town Staff. A community survey was sent to the community and at a later date, a community workshop was held, and ideas and concerns were exchanged. It was my understanding (at that time) that it was the feedback with the community workshop that created the Osage Master Plan in early 2011. It was also brought up during those workshops that Osage was a designated emergency landing and staging area for medical airlift transport and ambulance transport. This was one reason, we were told, that the areas needed to be made available for emergency access, specifically clearance and access for helicopter landings. It is my hope that at tonight’s meeting, the Commission will once again not vote until the community and othershave had the chance to meet in-person, working together to find the best solution for not only Osage Park, but thegreater Danville community. Thank you for your service and dedication to the Town of Danville and the community. Sincerely, Jane Stanton Sent from my iPhone From:Carl Taibl To:Gail Massagli Subject:Support for Pickleball at Osage Station Park for 11/09/2022 meeting agenda item 4.3 Date:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 11:00:04 AM***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFFThis email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from aTown Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize thesender and know the content is safe. Gail - Sorry first message got a bit truncated. DearTown of Danville – Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission – I have read the 17-page Staff Report regarding Pickleball at Osage Station Park. This is very thorough and impressive and I support the recommendation to move forward. I have lived in Danville since 1999, I am less than 2 miles from Osage Park. We have used that facility for many sports but would be excited to use it as our prime pickleball location. Today my son and I have to drive to Walnut Creek Rudgear Park to find the convenient drop-in play we enjoy. I work remotely at home and being able to show up and play between meetings or lunch is very enjoyable. From my five years’ experience at Rudgear Park I can provide some facts: -[if !supportLists]-->· PARKING: There is a natural limit to the number of players who will show up as players don’t want to wait an hour between games. This will self-monitor the traffic and parking, and in fact many players come as couples, 2 to a car. -[if !supportLists]-->· TRAFFIC: This concern is unfounded, as noted in the first point there will be a natural cap on the number of cars and speed limits or bumps can be installed if necessary. -[if !supportLists]-->· NOISE: Good players do not want their equipment restricted, so the solution to purchase those tarps/blankets which can be hung over the top of fences to block noise While I have met many other Danville residents at Walnut Creek Rudgear Park I HIGHLY RECOMMEND creating more capacity in my home town where I can ride my bicycle to play. Regards, Carl Taibl