Aventura has a public park pickleball problem. It’s green space vs. new courts

Thwack, smack, clack! Those are the sounds you’re likely to hear from a pickleball court as the plastic ball filled with holes bounces between rackets. The pickleball craze has swept much of the country with 44,094 courts and growing.

Yet, despite being the fastest growing sport in the world, a pesky pickleball battle has hit Aventura, with residents criticizing the city for demolishing a park to add pickleball courts as opposed to maintaining the green space and their community gardens.

The latest skirmish involves the demolition of Founders Park South to add more tennis and pickleball courts as opposed to maintaining the green space some residents desire. The frustration by residents has led to a lawsuit from condo owners against the city of Aventura, where there are no current public pickleball courts.

“They never followed what the declaration calls for which is reach out to the successors of the developer — Aventura Marina Owners Association and the Hidden Bay Owners Association — and establish a use and purpose for the park that is more in line with the spirit and the letter of the declaration,” AMO board director Juan Valdes said. “They decided to just move forward, they never notified us.”

The declaration, Valdes said, states that the city cannot make changes to the parks without the condo association’s approval. The city has already begun demolishing the grounds and will soon have new courts.

Aventura spokesman Evan Ross said the city is building the courts in response to growing demand.

“If you are talking to people at the local restaurants, if you’re talking to people at the local grocery store, or at community events, it wasn’t a secret that there’s a demand for pickleball,” he said. Ross said the tennis program had demand because it was filled to capacity. “Pickleball was a more recent one, but it was very clear that the community wanted pickleball courts.”

Pickleball melee

Residents have been embroiled in this battle with the city since at least early 2022 when some learned through word-of-mouth that the community gardens were being removed and their bevy of concerns have run the gamut of pickleball noise, using turf instead of grass, and taking away green space.

“We live in condos in Aventura. Most of us live in condos. We don’t have backyards. These beautiful parks are the residents’ backyards,” resident Alice Bonvicini said. “So a lot of parents and a lot of locals go to the sparks on a daily basis. They bring children there, and we feel like these beautiful green areas — that we have had until now — all of a sudden they’re really shrinking.”

Founded 1965, pickleball gained more notoriety in recent years with it being one of the few sports people could enjoy outdoors during the pandemic. As of 2022, Florida had 2,854 pickleball courts, according to USA Pickleball, an organization created in 2005.

Still, with its growing popularity, residents across the U.S. have pushed back on the courts being built in their backyards, including in those in Jersey Shore, San Francisco and parts of Southern California, and a Denver suburb.

And Aventura isn’t the only South Florida city dealing with this. In Fort Lauderdale, residents have been embroiled in a back-and-forth with the city over plans to bring 42 pickleball courts to Snyder Park.

The sport is most popular among people aged 65 and above but has seen increased interest among younger ages, according to USA Pickleball. Aventura’s 65-and-older community comprises 27.9% of its population, according to the U.S. census.

But Bonvicini acknowledged the current commission did not vote to bring public pickleball courts to Aventura. “So they have inherited this big headache, and I understand that it’s not necessarily their fault, but what we’re trying to tell them is please listen to us,” Bonvicini said.

Pickleball courts were included in the city’s 2022-2027 Capital Improvement Plan, a five-year planning document detailing the city’s capital projects and funding. At that time $1.75 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds was budgeted for the addition of pickleball and tennis courts, according to the document. The city commission passed that in February 2022 and amended it in April 2022, according to the document.

But pickleball was played in the city as early as 2014, according to a news release announcing it. Founders Park, which sits on 12 acres — 2.84 square miles of it Founders Park South — already had three tennis courts, a soccer field and a community garden in which residents at the nearby condominiums could rent gardens beds.

The most recent capital plan allocates $735,000 in American Rescue Funds to add pickleball and tennis courts to Founders Park South. In April, commissioners, who were not in office when the courts were voted on, approved a $1.3 million contract with Bejar Construction for construction of three pickleball courts and three tennis courts. The city also promises to increase the number of beds in the community garden from 48 to 52 and move them to a waterfront area in the park.

Residents allege the city commission has not been responsive to their concerns. But Ross said that is not the case. “The city hasn’t ignored the objections or suggestions from people who aren’t happy with the plans. The city made the decisions that are in the interest of the greater good of the community there,” he said.

Residents made it clear they are not against pickleball but would rather the new courts be at Founders Park, which is north of Founders Park South and already has three tennis courts.

“We’re definitely not against pickleball, and we’ve told the commissioners that,” said Ariel Penzer, who has led several protests. “We’ve even suggested that they move it to Founders, where they could easily put the pickleball courts right here and not near any residences,” she said.

Legal dispute

The park sits along Northeast 190th Street near the Aventura Marina condominiums. The condo association has filed a lawsuit against the city alleging it violates a 1998 consent decree that prohibits the city from making changes to the park without the condo association’s consent.

Valdes said the association had no other choice but to file a lawsuit after multiple failed attempts to engage with the city, including cease-and-desist letters, he says the city never responded to.

And despite pleas from residents to delay construction, the city is moving ahead with construction underway. The project is set to be completed in January.

“We have had formal and informal conversations with the mayor and the city manager, but they have simply just moved on,” Valdes said.

A judge will hear the case Oct. 31. Until then, Penzer said, protests will continue.

“However we’re hoping that before the permits come in, the number of commissioners that are sympathetic to our point will rise maybe,” she said. “Hopefully, there will be a second discussion. We don’t know. We don’t know. But we’re certainly going to keep up the protesting.”