Last month, members of the Tucson Area Pickleball (TAP) organization and other players of the sport gathered outside City Hall to oppose the proposal. The city proposed charging players at the Udall pickleball courts after keeping them free since 2021.
Before then, there were tennis courts at Udall Park. Dominick DeCarlo, known as the “Pickleball Mayor of Tucson,” remembers this time of construction on Tucson’s east side.
“The agreement was Fort Lowell [Park] would remain tennis only. So, if you want to play tennis, you go to Fort Lowell. But Udall tennis courts would be converted to pickleball courts,” DeCarlo said.
DeCarlo has been playing for four years and loves the pickleball community at the Udall courts. The city and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero had a formal fee review process to impose a per-player $3.50 fee for each 90-minute session at the Udall pickleball courts, and other fees at various parks and programs across the city. An additional 25% to 50% increase would be tacked on for non-residents of Tucson.
Lane Mandle, chief of staff to City Manager Tim Thomure, said that the current fees enforced at other parks are not adequate for maintaining facilities and programs in the future.
“The proposed changes aim to close that gap, fund ongoing maintenance and introduce fees for newly offered services, while keeping programs accessible to residents who need financial assistance,” Mandle said.
The players at Udall Park with TAP are speaking up against the fee increase. They say the only council member in their corner against the fees is Paul Cunningham from Ward 2. He voted against all the fee increases proposed by the city in April: Kid-Co summer camp, leisure classes and recreation courts.
“How are we going to legislate this?” Cunningham asked.
Cunningham said that Udall courts have a special system for managing player allotment called the paddle rack system. DeCarlo said it’s “sacred” because it clearly shows who is playing at what court on physically placed paddles near each court entrance. He said that if the fees increase, this system goes away. The city would likely enforce where the players go by a staff member, instead of a community paddle rack system.
For others, the fees call for a more drastic outcome.
“If the city starts charging, we're all just going to go somewhere else and this place will be dead,” said Tammy Lukow, who started playing pickleball last fall.
DeCarlo said that Cunningham joined a game of pickleball and played with him at the Udall courts. When the council member stepped onto the court, DeCarlo reached out his hand and jokingly asked for the $3.50 fee. DeCarlo did this to not only make an impression, but to highlight what he viewed as unnecessary –– the fees.
Cunningham is revising a proposal to keep the courts free by cutting out a management company paid for by the city. His new proposal calls for TAP to manage the courts for the next five years instead.
“They assume no liability, [TAP pays] for all the maintenance and it's a huge headache off the city's back because they don't have to manage it. It could be a very nice win-win-win situation,” DeCarlo said. “Win for the city, win for TAP, and win for free pickleball for the public.”
Cunningham and TAP will turn in their proposal on May 19 and present it to Tucson City Parks and Recreation representatives.
“The city manager will be meeting with representatives from TAP and feels confident that a solution can be reached,” Mandle said.
Romero and the Tucson City Council will have a public hearing on June 9 for the proposed adoption of the fee. If no solution from the proposal is found, the fees will go into effect on July 1 citywide.
