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A group of pickleball players in North Saanich has dropped their legal fight against the district for closing popular courts last year after an outburst at council.
A hearing scheduled for Monday in B.C. Supreme Court will no longer go ahead, said Frank Gee, one of two people named on the petition, which asked for a judicial review of the council motion that closed the Wain Park courts in May 2024.
The petition argued council failed to follow its own bylaws when it voted at an April 29, 2024 council meeting to close the courts, because the item was not on the council agenda for the day.
Noise complaints prompted council to explore moving the courts to a new location or forcing players to use soft balls — something players compared to golfers using a wiffle ball. The courts were closed May 7, 2024.
Gee said the ad hoc group dropped the petition after receiving legal advice that his outburst at a Jan. 13 council meeting would likely lead a judge to rule against them.
“The risk of winning the case was greatly diminished,” he said.
On that meeting’s agenda was a pickleball facility concept at Blue Heron Park, with an estimated cost of nearly $700,000, about 20 times what pickleball associations estimate it would cost to install sound-mitigation measures in Wain Park. Two pickleball associations have offered to contribute about $8,000 toward installing acoustic panelling around the courts.
The associations conducted tests of noise levels from pickleball at Oak Bay’s Carnarvon Park courts in May 2024 that showed sound-mitigation measures there reduced the noise from pickleball to about the same levels as tennis, in both frequency and tone, dampening the typical high-pitched sound of a pickleball meeting a paddle.
On Jan. 13, Mayor Peter Jones put forward a motion to have staff engage with residents within 600 metres of a proposed pickleball court in Blue Heron Park and report back to council with results on March 1.
“Are you insane? 600 metres… What the hell…Where the hell are you coming from? Mr. Mayor —,” Gee said before audio of the recorded meeting cut out briefly.
“There is no justification for that kind of distance to determine whether the community wants the court there or not,” he continued.
Coun. Kristine Marshall interrupted to say she appreciated the comment but, “you’re upsetting staff and we’re not going to have that.”
She chastised Gee, saying that in council chambers, there is no swearing or yelling and he has been told time and time again.
“This needs to stop and your behaviour needs to stop,” she said, giving him 15 seconds to either stop or they would recess the meeting.
Gee can be seen standing up and briefly comes into view on video of the meeting before turning to leave. As another unseen person in the chambers begins to question council on spending considerations, the video cuts to a message that the meeting is in recess.
Other avenues are being pursued to examine the democratic process and transparency in the district, but Gee said it is too early to share more details.
North Saanich chief administrative officer Stephanie Munro confirmed that the judicial review was withdrawn against the municipality.
The municipality has no further comments, Munro said in a statement.
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