The Pleasanton City Council has called a special meeting for Tuesday to look again at plans to build two additional lighted tennis courts at the Pleasanton Tennis and Community Park.
The meeting was called after a group of residents from nearby homes protested the removal of grass and four trees next to the park’s 10 tennis courts at Valley Avenue and Hopyard Road to accommodate the two new courts.
The 2014 Parks and Recreation Master Plan identified the need for two additional lighted tennis courts at the tennis park. The council will re-consider whether to move forward with an already approved project or pursue alternatives.
Mayor Jerry Thorne ordered a halt to construction of the new courts because of the protests last week.
Protesters said they had no advanced warning of the project, which is part of a master plan approved by the City Council in 1985.
Two years ago, the Parks and Recreation Commission identified the need for two additional lighted tennis courts and, subsequently, a capital improvement allocation was created to build them.
Due to a number of factors, the project was put on hold until this year, with the City Council approving a construction contract March 4.
Callander Associates Landscape Architecture designed the two new tennis courts to be located in a large turf area that was identified as a location for the courts in the master plan.
The courts would be consistent in design with the existing courts with the same type of fencing, screening, equipment, access and north/south orientation. The difference is that the courts will include drought-tolerant landscaping and irrigation around them.
Lighting for the new courts also will be cost- and energy-saving LED, with plans to upgrade all court lighting to LED at a later date.
The project that was scheduled to start July 25 would have taken 70 working days to complete with the two new courts scheduled to open in October.
The Tuesday meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the council chambers, located at 200 Old Bernal Ave.
