A Few Minutes with the Mayor – June 2025

OUR WARM, SUNNY WEATHER has brought on our usual spring fever, enticing us to enjoy the pleasant outdoor activities available in Jacksonville. Folks are using our city parks, Jacksonville Woodlands, trails, dog park, skate park, tennis courts, and pickleball courts. It also seems to have raised a few questions about the rules on the use of all of these spaces. You will find the rules posted at each location or on our city webpage, www.jacksonvilleor.us.

One site frequently asked about is Pheasant Meadows Park, where you can walk, children can use the playground, or you can play tennis or pickleball. As with all city parks, play is allowed from 8:00am until dusk. The 8:00am until dusk is not new; it has been a rule for quite some time. An exception, at Pheasant Meadows, is for pickleball; no play is allowed on Sundays. All our parks are on a first-come, first-served basis, and no reservations are allowed in any Jacksonville Park.

The Pheasant Meadows Park was one of several parks designed around neighborhoods in Jacksonville. It was originally planned with tennis courts and playground equipment. It runs along the backyards of a neighborhood street and is very close to the Presbyterian Church. A walking path many of us enjoy also runs through the park. Unfortunately, it was built on substandard ground in a fairly swampy area. This was many years ago, and the city has spent a fair amount of money maintaining that area. There is a lot of controversy that started a few years ago when pickleball was first allowed on the courts. There are pros and cons for both sides, for and against, that I won’t take up space going over here. The City Council has heard considerably from both sides via emails, phone calls, meetings, council sessions, and public comments at council meetings. This resulted in the City Council voting to enact a legal resolution on December 3rd, 2024, regarding pickleball play at Pheasant Meadows Park. The resolution moves the court marking stripes down from four available courts to two courts. This resolution cannot be changed unless the reasons for making the resolution change dramatically. They have not, and therefore, pickleball won’t be on a City Council meeting agenda anytime soon. Having said that, you should know that the city is actively looking for an appropriate site to build actual pickleball courts, which are not in a neighborhood. Available properties are scarce within the city boundary. There are limited places to house pickleball courts, but we will look at every site possible. The sites we have looked at were passed over because they would be too close to homes, had no parking, or the space needed for four courts. The city has limited funds to spend on this endeavor. I would love to see citizen involvement, similar to how the Jacksonville Dog Park was built several years ago. People formed a group, partnered with the city, and raised the funds needed to build a specialized park.

Starting about mid-May, the Pheasant Meadows courts will be closed for repair and maintenance for forty to sixty days. We will be resurfacing and putting new stripes on the courts. That is when you will see the pickleball courts reduced from four courts to two courts. There will be a lag time between the resurfacing and the new stripes as we wait until the new surface is cured. The timing is unfortunate, as summer is just beginning, but the courts are in bad shape.

I know walking or biking to Pheasant Meadows is convenient, but until a perfect facility is available, there are many other pickleball courts in the valley where you can enjoy playing. There are courts close by, at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park, Rogue X, and Village Center Park in Medford, and Don Jones Park in Central Point. On the website for the Southern Oregon Pickleball Association (SOPA), https://sopickleball.org/places-to-play, there is a list of twenty-eight courts between Grants Pass and Ashland. This list includes the hours, addresses, and phone numbers of the courts.

The sad part of pickleball play in Jacksonville is that it can be so divisive. The role of the Mayor and the Council is to be fair to everyone: the neighborhood and the pickleball players. We are aware of the concerns of all parties involved, and the resolution was voted as the most suitable decision for this site. Our best idea so far is to find a new site for pickleball, and we will continue to work toward that goal.