A site for an indoor pickleball facility in Powell River is still up in the air.
Powell River City Council has postponed a study on city-owned land on Timberlane Avenue after the qathet Pickleball Association (qPA) indicated last month it wants to be near the civic complex.
Council has learned the 1.1 hectares (2.72 acres) of land has an encumbrance, which means the city can’t sell the land to the qPA but could have a long-term lease. The study would be done to make sure the city protects its interests.
City Development Manager Melissa Howey told council Thursday (Dec. 18) having a site picked is “key” before a costly due diligence study is completed.
As for the complex site, CAO Sundance Topham said city staff believe the site is “not appropriate.”
Councillor Jim Palm agreed the matter should be put off until February.
“Even if the rec complex is out of the question, they (qPA) would like to explore all possibilities. Not just this particular one so as Councillor (George) Doubt has pointed out, I don’t want to spend a great deal of money on a study that not everybody’s buying into, so I fully support a postponement,” Palm stated.
Doubt explained there’s no need to rush the process.
“Just take a step back and make sure we’re spending our money on studying the place where everybody wants the facility to go, if we ever get to it,” he said.
Councillor Cindy Elliott says the association needs to really decide whether it wants it at the rec center because it will be a slow process.
“It may be a longer term process and includes input from the broader community about what is the priority for city lands in that rec center area. It’s a city-owned property that we generally own the facilities and not lease them out. We have a lot of undecided future for our current rec center and how that might be refurbished or rebuilt or not and all of that comes with some planning and none of that’s going to happen quickly,” Elliott explained.
The qathet Pickleball Association has been fundraising for an eight-court indoor facility.
