Residents held a sit-in to stop the county from removing the pickleball courts earlier this month.
ANNANDALE, Va. — Ten days after a group of residents held a sit-in at a park to stop crews from removing the pickleball courts, the painting effort to reline the courts began again.
On June 14, four pickleball regulars at Kendale Woods Park were playing when their match was interrupted by workers from Fairfax County Park Authority, who were trying to close the pickleball courts down for maintenance. The four ladies refused to leave and showed WUSA9 pictures of the workers taking down the pickleball nets in the middle of their match. Then, they staged a sit-in, so the workers couldn’t reline the courts for tennis only.
The Park Authority cited noise complaints as the reason for reverting the courts to tennis only.
In a statement to WUSA9, the park authority said officials agreed to pause the relining work after members of the community asked to meet before a judge and discuss the matter. But when that time came, the park authority says no one showed up.
“On Friday, June 21, the Park Authority had representation present at the appointed time; however, no members of the community were in attendance,” a spokesperson with the Fairfax County Park Authority said.
Ten days after the sit-in, the relining effort began again Monday with a security guard in the court.
The park authority said the county security was arranged after staff endured “verbally abusive language” from residents when they originally tried to reline the courts.
“We felt this a reasonable precaution given the initial experience and our desire to ensure that our staff could fulfill their assignment in a peaceful, orderly fashion,” the park authority said.
Despite the challenges, the park authority says pickleball players are still welcome to use the 16 other pickleball courts located within 5 miles of Kendale Woods Park. The Fairfax County Park Authority is also installing two dedicated pickleball courts just a mile away at Mason District Park, which should be open in some time next year.
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