Pickleball Club Takes On City Over Lease

By Corey Fischer

Apr 10, 2019 | 12:14 PM

The Vernon Pickleball Association has gone public with its concerns about how the City of Vernon is handling its lease.

The 400 member club opened its new 12 court facility in Marshall Fields last year, and its original deal with the Regional District of North Okanagan allowed it to maintain and run the courts.

Under a new 15 year lease with the City, the club says the City wants to rent out the courts to the general public, and is calling for more parking, and to move a “misplaced” fire hydrant which he says would cost $40,000 to $50,000.

V.P.A. president Rob Irving is calling on the City to show a sense of fair play over the lease.

“We saved the public purse about $1.1 million, and we produced the facility years earlier than would have been otherwise possible, yet we feel we are being treated like profit seeking developers with deep pockets rather than a partnership,” Irving told council.

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Irving says the association completed construction of the courts at Marshall Field in August, 2018, and since that time the V.P.A. Board has been working to establish a productive and effective relationship with the City of Vernon which reflects the spirit of and the terms of the current 15 year lease.

“The V.P.A. will be meeting with Vernon councilors in the coming weeks to clarify the current lease agreement.”

The non profit club got help with its construction costs from RDNO which provided a $300,000 grant.

“The V.P.A. created the facility at a cost of approximately $700,000 (valued by RDNO at $1.4 million) through sizable member and corporate donations of approximately $110,000; donations in-kind, sweat equity, and a 10 – year repayable loan of $145,000 to the City of Vernon,” says the release.

Irving says the 12 courts will provide a long term benefit to the region.

“Pickleball is a rapidly growing sport and that is translating into a rapidly growing pickleball club in Vernon. The V.P.A currently has approximately 400 members, including over 50 new members of the public signed up for lessons in April and May.”

The club would like to install lighting at the open-air facility to allow games later into the evenings.

During a presentation to council Monday, councillor Brian Quiring asked Irving what the club means by providing meaningful and appropriate public access.

“There are a lot factors that will evolve with time as far as public access is concerned. A schedule needs to be set up and arrangements need to be made for liability insurance. It’s in our best interest to provide public access. The non-member public players are certainly our future members……There will be times allocated to public access, so we wouldn’t be taking over all of the time, for sure,” said Irving.

by Corey Fischer