In November, East Hampton Village sent out approximately 2,000 surveys to village residents asking three questions: Are you in favor of installing pickleball courts in Herrick Park? Are you in favor of Wiborg’s Beach being protected by lifeguards? Are you in favor of having a dog park in Herrick Park?
The results are in! At the village board meeting on Friday, Marcos Baladron, the village administrator, scrolled through pie charts showing the data from the 450 returned surveys.
The pickleball question drew the most support, with 66 percent favoring courts in Herrick Park. The idea of allowing a dog run at the park, however, was mixed, with only 51 percent supporting the idea.
Fifty-six percent of respondents favored adding lifeguards at Wiborg’s Beach. If a lifeguard stand were installed, the village would also need to provide public bathrooms, as required by New York State law.
Discussion on these issues, however, was put off until March due to the absence of Carrie Doyle, a trustee who was on vacation. The board won’t be full at February’s meeting either, as Sarah Amaden will be out of town then.
“We’re going to wait to discuss this as a board,” said Mayor Jerry Larsen. “No real decision will be made until after the summer. I don’t want anybody to be panicky about it either way.”
In other pickleball news, the board voted to leave open a public hearing considering new legislation regarding the installation of residential courts.
Christopher Minardi, the deputy mayor, wondered if requiring residents who had conforming tennis courts to sink them if they were converted to pickleball courts, wasn’t a bit too much to ask.
“The way the law is currently drafted, yes, in order to legally convert a tennis court to pickleball, you would have to sink it,” said Billy Hajek, the village planner. “We can look at it further.”
Mr. Minardi said pickleball was potentially just a “fad sport” and that “maybe in five years no one is playing pickleball.” He thought adding a little “wiggle room” into the code for those on large lots should be considered.
“It’s pretty uncommon to have a tennis court on a lot less than 60,000 square feet,” said Mr. Hajek, because of village coverage requirements. Only 10 village lots of that size, out of 1,280 total parcels, had tennis courts, he said.
In other words, the vast majority of residents on smaller village lots wouldn’t be negatively impacted by the new requirements because most don’t have tennis courts to convert.
Mr. Hajek said in Sagaponack Village, residents aren’t required to sink their courts if they can meet an increased setback. He said East Hampton could explore a similar idea for residents with larger lots.
