By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press
A Lake Crest Beach resident of Colchester who developed a pickleball court on town property – without permission to do so – will have to remove it at own expense.
At the July 21 meeting, Essex Council unanimously voted to have Town administration ask Lake Crest Beach homeowners to immediately stop using the pickleball court constructed on Town property, abutting Lake Crest Court, and that they remove the pickleball court and restore the property to the Town’s satisfaction.
That will need to be done within 30-days, at their cost, under the supervision of the Town’s Infrastructure Department.
Mayor Sherry Bondy made the motion, while also offering apologies for having to do so, after Council returned from having to retreat into a closed session meeting to further discuss the matter.
Kathryn Hengl and Rob Dimenna appeared as delegations to speak on behalf of Lake Crest Beach homeowners.
Hengl said Lake Crest Beach Road is a private beach road with 23 properties, all of which front along the water. Each property owns a piece of the road in front of their property. At one of the ends of Lake Crest Court, there is a town-owned land lot, which she said the Essex Region Conservation Authority reforested around 12-years ago through the planting of around 7000 trees.
Around those trees, there was a grass portion that runs along the road. That is where Hengl said Dimenna installed a pickleball court.
Hengl said the only access to the Town Property and the pickleball court is through two private roads.
“We have a very vibrant and active community among our residents, and as such the pickleball court was a very welcome addition,” Hengl said. “The court is used by many of the residents, both children and adults alike. It has become a great source of activity for our beach community, and many residents have taken up the sport since the spring.”
The pickleball court has become a significant tool for socializing and health for the community, she said.
“We would very much like to continue it,” Hengl said.
“We acknowledge that we did not follow the proper channels in having this court installed, but we are here tonight seeking your approval in principle to retain the pickleball court, subject to whatever terms and conditions that are required to address your concerns,” Hengl commented.
She said they were interested in preparing a formalized agreement that would allow them to keep the court.
When Dimenna built the pickleball court, he said there was nothing malicious about it. He said he has a great group of neighbours who had talked about pickleball, and he chose to put it in.
In answering Councillor Brad Allard’s question on if Dimenna had thought of any other places the court could have been installed, he said there were no other areas it would have fit on the beach.
Dimenna said the neighbours have been taking care of the piece of property for years.
David McBeth, Manager of Capital Works and Asset Management, explained the pickleball court was constructed over top of the Town’s sanitary trunk main, which feeds into the sanitary treatment plant, and the watermain that services all of the residents there.
The construction of this pickleball court never would have been given approval from the Town in that location because of the underground infrastructure, McBeth noted. He added there are various areas the pickleball court could have been added to on private property.
McBeth added this property will be the expansion lands for the Town’s sewer treatment plant. While access to that will not be coming directly off of Lake Crest Road, there will be additional potential infrastructure and expansion there.
Joe Malandruccolo, Director of Legal and legislative services, believes legally there are grave concerns in allowing something like this. Firstly, it would set a bad precedent for Council. There are also insurance concerns, and there are many things the Town does from a safety perspective that would have to try to be installed at this pickleball court.
In addition, in order to enter into a lease agreement with the parties, the parties would have to be determined. It would be hard to enter an agreement with a group of individuals. Residents moving, for instance, could impact that.
The Town, Malandruccolo added, would also need assurance the court could be demolished if it did need to access the underground infrastructure. That would require a deposit – likely between $10,000 to $15,000 – from the tenants.
“It would be a very, very complicated legal relationship with a group of residents to allow something that was done without Town permission,” he said.
Malandruccolo added the Town does not know how the court was created. There could be issues with drainage or other matters that may not have been inspected or done that would have through the Town.
Councillor Joe Garon spoke of how Council likely would not have allowed anything to be built on town property by private individuals. Pickleball seems to bring people together. This one was put in the wrong spot.
The main concern Councillor Rodney Hammond had was the potential negative impact it could have on the possible future sewer system.
Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley said what the residents put up was nice, and he struggled with the fact they did not approach the Town first. He said he met with the Town’s Legal Department to see if there were options. There were so many problems posed, he could not come to a solution that he could propose that would work.
Dimena said the court is located behind his property and would be willing to be the sole leaser. He wanted to find a solution.
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