Fort Lauderdale residents pan pickleball plan at ‘the people’s beach’

Once fated to be replaced by pickleball courts, the beloved basketball courts at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park are here to stay. But after a year of controversy and compromise, the fight over how to update the park seems far from over.

The Fort Lauderdale City Commission discussed the newest proposal for the beach park right across the street from the Bahia Mar hotel at Tuesday’s meeting: refurbish the two existing basketball courts, add four new pickleball courts and install artificial turf areas for lounging, yoga and picnicking.

The dozen residents who gave the commission feedback during public comment were certainly not fans of the proposed design, let alone pickleball, the popular racquet sport.

“You almost run into a pickleball wherever you go! Do we need it everywhere?” said resident Ted Inserra. “Let’s take down this gazebo over here at Esplanade Park, we need pickleballs over here, too. I’m surprised you don’t put floating docks along the Riverwalk and put pickleball courts on them.”

“Good idea,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said, sarcastically.

The commission will vote on the site plan on or before July 2.

Though many residents said they still weren’t satisfied with the new proposal, the biggest issue by far was the city’s original plan to replace the basketball courts entirely with pickleball courts because of its agreement with Bahia Mar.

A new $2.5 million design

In January 2024, the city and Bahia Mar developer Jimmy Tate struck a deal. Bahia Mar, the longtime host of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, promised to undergo a $2 billion redevelopment project with condo towers and a hotel in exchange for a 100-year lease on city-owned land. Part of the deal meant new pickleball courts on the beach by January 2027.

But local beach basketball players didn’t realize that the pickleball courts would replace the basketball courts until last April when the city posted a small sign about the change, sparking outrage. Some critics believed the idea may have been racially motivated, favoring wealthy white pickleball players over the diverse crowd of basketball players who frequent the beach, the Sun Sentinel reported.

The city later tried to appease critics by installing new basketball courts hundreds of yards south of the original location, which would still be turned into pickleball courts. Feeling cast aside, literally, Fort Lauderdale’s hoopers were not happy with the idea.

In December, commissioners decided to delay a vote to approve the proposal to move the basketball courts. A month later, Mayor Dean Trantalis announced at a neighborhood meeting that the Bahia Mar developers made a tentative agreement with the city to keep the basketball courts right where they are, the Sun Sentinel reported.

All that culminated in Tuesday’s city commission meeting where landscape architect Michael Gehart, the vice president of design firm EDSA, presented the latest proposal for the park. The $2.5 million proposal, designed by Fort Lauderdale landscape architectural firm EDSA, would be funded by a $1 million contribution from the Bahia Mar Community Development District and $1.3 million from the city’s parks bond program.

“We want to draw in the public, the community,” Gehart said.

“Mucking up this area’

Renderings of the proposed redesign show the basketball courts in their original location just north of the pedestrian bridge. The redesign includes a 1,700 square-foot central plaza where the pedestrian bridge lands at the beach, flanked by an artificial turf “flex lawn.” South of the central plaza are the four pickleball courts. South of that is the outdoor gym area, which is next to the existing barbecue area. The redesign also adds 80 new trees and other indigenous plants to the park.

Residents listed other complaints and concerns, arguing that four pickleball courts was excessive and that the artificial turf was unnecessary. People take beach yoga classes on sand all the time, residents noted.

“This is the people’s beach,” said resident Vicki Mowrey. “Why are you, our elected officials and guardians of our city, even entertaining the idea of mucking up this area with 1700 square feet of concrete for a welcome pad or central plaza, as though the natural beauty isn’t welcome enough?”

Leo Lorenz of Beach Ballers, a group of basketball players behind the push to save the beach basketball courts, said the proposal is not the “win-win” developers say it is. He said that moving the exercise equipment and picnic tables away from the basketball courts creates an inconvenience for players who like to work out while they wait between games and for parents who sit at the tables to keep an eye on their kids on the court.

Commissioner Steven Glassman pushed back on the criticism of the pickleball courts. He said the developers have been willing to respond to residents’ feedback. Once the park renovations are finally done, “people are going to be very happy,” he said.

“Everyone came up with a great middle of the road compromise where everyone should be happy with something,” Glassman said. “Will everybody be happy with everything? Probably not, but we never see that anyway.”

Critics of the proposal said the city was prioritizing the wishes of luxury hotels over the community’s.

“This isn’t what the people wanted,” said resident Barbra Stern. “This is what the Bahia Mar St. Regis wants to match their marketing.”