Outdoor Racquet Sports Strategy

2025 Strategy

Purpose 

The Outdoor Racquet Sports Strategy (RSS) is a comprehensive, citywide plan for future racquet sports (tennis and pickleball) court dedication, distribution, maintenance, and capital improvement projects to provide improved access and parity between outdoor racquet sports.

The strategy also includes recommendations related to reservations, court guidelines, and system maintenance that could support the success of the asset management plan. 

The goals and recommendations within the plan are driven by Seattle Parks and Recreation's (SPR) desire to mitigate or resolve the commonly received community needs, wishes, concerns, and issues related to racquet sports.

Need

The RSS was initiated in response to the moratorium on dual striping outdoor tennis courts and the desire for a long-range vision for outdoor racquet sports outlined in an April 2024 presentation to the Seattle Parks and Recreation Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners (BPRC). 

The city’s current park system and all assets contained within have been developed over 100 years, largely through private donations and partnerships. When the city’s system can or could not meet the demand for a new or existing sport within this system, private facilities have either served this purpose temporarily or in perpetuity. The addition of a new sport or use to a park takes considerable funding and time to study, accommodate, and implement. Therefore, the RSS serves to establish achievable, equitable, and meaningful goals within this frame of reference to meet this need and better align the supply of facilities with growing demand.

Next Steps

The current projected timeline, though subject to change as the process develops, is:

• September – October 2025: Finalize recommendations and vet with internal SPR stakeholders.
• November 2025: Finalize public engagement plan, develop engagement materials, and secure resources for meetings.
• December 2025: Post video walkthrough and draft RSS and Engagement Plan online.
• January – February 2026: Host in-person meetings, launch engagement platform, and issue online survey to receive community feedback on RSS.
• March – May 2026: Update RSS as needed based on feedback and take any formal actions to allow for implementation of recommendations.
• June 2026: Begin implementing recommendations. 

Current Initiatives

Several recommendations proposed within the first draft of the strategy were identified as needing greater coordination and consideration by SPR subject-matter-experts to present a clearer, more comprehensive path forward to the public later this year. This includes school reservation policy, open play court times for pickleball, and court guidelines. To further inform these items, we have also worked to roll out two initiatives that respond to oft-received community requests and provide opportunities to gather additional data to inform future decision-making. Please see below for more information on these two new initiatives.

Compliance with Seattle Municipal Code Noise Ordinance

Effective September 15, 2025:

Following repeated noise complaints at three outdoor racquet courts (Gilman Playground, Laurelhurst Playfield, and Mt. Baker Park), SPR Planning Unit staff worked with representatives from the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) to conduct sound studies to determine the existence of potential violations. It was found that due to the proximity of these courts to nearby residences, the noise being generated from use exceeds the legislative limitations.

To align allowable park activities with the Seattle Municipal Code Ch. 25.08 - Noise Control, SPR will be restricting use of the racquet sport courts at all three locations to the following hours:

• 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays 
• 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and City Observed holidays.

If use is documented with timestamped, visual evidence outside of these operating hours, locks will be added to the facility to enforce consistency with the City’s noise ordinance for at least thirty (30) days from the date of lock installation. During the first 30-day enforcement period, the courts will be available, subject to staff capacity and availability, to allow for the unlocking and locking of the facility. 

After the first violation and the initial 30-day enforcement period, the locks will be removed. If a further document violation occurs, the locks will be permanently installed and play will be limited in perpetuity to the hours in which SPR personnel are able to unlock and lock the facility.

Green Lake East Open Play Pilot Program

Effective October 1, 2025:

SPR will be piloting a new style of play at the city’s first pickleball hub at Green Lake East courts! Beginning October 1, 2025, an “Open Play Pilot Program” will take effect to allow SPR to dedicate time for open play to occur without the need for reservations.  SPR will collect real-time data on the impacts and opportunities for a more formalized approach to accommodate this type of pickleball play within our existing racquet sport court system. SPR will also be collecting user and public input. Findings will be shared with the public at the conclusion of the pilot program.

The pilot is planned to run for 1 year during the following windows:

Applicable Days and Hours:

• Monday: 8–10 a.m. 
• Wednesday: 1–3 p.m. 
• Saturday: 9–11 a.m. 
• Sunday: 4–6 p.m

Open Play Pickleball is a style of racquet sport play where individuals arrive at a court location and rotate into the queue of play with individuals already playing on the court.  

GUIDELINES

1. Courts are only to be used for pickleball. 
2. No clinics, lessons, leagues, reservations, or tournaments are allowed during open-play hours.
3. Courts are first-come, first-served until all courts are full. Courts are considered “full” when at least one game is being played at each court simultaneously. At such times, players must stack their paddles in a queue. Players who arrived during first-come, first-served must exit the court at the game-winning point and join the paddle stacking system located at the most southwestern court to play another game.
4. Warm-up time is limited to 5 minutes and players must exit the court within 5 minutes of the game-winning point.
5. When there are more than 10 paddle stacks waiting, traditional scoring must switch to “play to 9, win by 1” until there are less than 10 paddle stacks waiting.  
6. The paddle stacking system will determine who plays next.
7. Double stacking (playing a game while having a second paddle in the queue) is not allowed. 
8. Only tennis shoes or soft-soled shoes without heels or black rubber traction devices shall be worn on tennis courts.

If you have any questions, please contact Jonathan Garner at Jonathan.Garner@Seattle.gov or (206) 619-9725.