Residents Elevate Pickleball Court Feud to the Supreme Court

^{Photo Credit for the feature image in this article: CHEK News}

I thought for sure when I wrote an article about pickleball courts being shut down back in May, that this would be the last we heard of the story. Boy, was I wrong.

A quick recap of story #1 for you:

• 2017 - The District Council of North Saanich (British Columbia, Canada) approved to install four courts in Wain Park, for an approximate cost of $150k-$200k
• April 29th, 2024 - Mayor Peter Jones, seemingly out of nowhere, made a motion to permanently close the courts, due to noise complaints from neighbors. The motion passed, 5-1. 

Local pickleball players were outraged and offered more noise control options, and nothing was even in considered. In fact, the District Council “reviewed” noise reduction options made by the Director of Infrastructure Services, but found it unreasonable. Those options were completely outdated and over two years old.

The Peninsula Community Pickleball Club (PCPC) wrote a letter to the Council outlining their wishes to work together to come up with a mutually agreed upon solution, including more organized play – this was not even discussed in the Council’s meeting, either.

Residents begin legal battle after closure

Shortly after the closure of the courts, a local group of people, including players and local constituents, filed a petition for a Judicial Review to challenge the decision. In order to raise funds for the legal costs associated with this, the group has started a GoFundMe page.

According to their GoFundMe page, between April 29th and now, the group has also done several things to try to reverse the decision to close the courts:

• A change.org petition asking to re-open the courts with over 1,800 signatures was presented to the Mayor and the Council
• Hundreds of supporters protested at the May 6th District Council meeting
• Legal consultations to discuss the legality of the closure of the Wain Park pickleball courts
• Communicating with staff at other municipalities throughout British Columbia regarding their effective usage of sound mitigation technology
• Media interviews and social media posting
• Collection of scientific data demonstrating effective sound mitigation technology

Where do they go from here?

The residents of North Saanich that have been locked out of their pickleball courts really only have one option now - the judicial review.

A judicial review is the only option for residents

Judicial review in Canada allows courts to assess the legality of decisions made by government bodies or officials. It ensures that decisions are within the law, fair, and constitutional. Courts do not typically re-decide the case but check for errors like exceeding legal authority or violating principles of fairness and natural justice.

In British Columbia, judicial review is usually sought in the Supreme Court of BC or the Federal Court. Grounds for review include legal errors, procedural unfairness, or unreasonable decisions. If a decision is found to be flawed, the court can quash it or send it back for reconsideration. Judicial review ensures accountability and protects individuals from unlawful government actions.

Update on the judicial review 

On July 26th, 2024, the group filed their case for a judicial review. The filing is a nine page document that I will summarize below, highlighting the key arguments.

Main items the petitioners are seeking:

• An order setting aside the resolution passed by the District to permanently close the Wain Park pickleball courts, effective immediately
• A declaration that in closing the park, North Saanich breached the rules of procedural fairness

Arguments:

• The April 29th, 2024 Council Agenda did not have anything related to the Wain Park pickleball courts and the Mayor (Peter Jones) introduced a motion to permanently close Wain Park pickleball courts
• On May 3rd, the Mayor was interviewed by CHEK News. In this interview, the Mayor said he drove by the courts on Sunday night, April 28th, at approximately 8pm, and the players wouldn’t leave the courts. The Mayor indicated this experience was what “brought the decision forward” to close the courts.
• On May 6th, Councillor McClintock asked fellow members to introduce a motion to reconsider the decision to close the courts. The Mayor did not allow the motion to be introduced because it was not on the agenda.

^{Photo taken of the District Council from the North Saanish website.}

^{Top Row (L-R): Jack McClintock, Celia Stock, Kristine Marshall, and Phil DiBattista}

^{Bottom Row (L-R): Sanjiv Shrivastrava, Ph.D, Mayor Peter Jones, and Irene McConkey}

North Saanich filed a seven page response on September 6, 2024. Highlights of the response:

• Opposes all items the petitioners requested
• The biggest argument the District is making is that the petitioners do not have legal standing to file the motion, because they cannot prove private or public interest in the matter
• “if a duty of fairness was triggered, the applicable duties were minimal and the District had no obligation to provide the petitioners with advance notice of the April 29 Resolution or provide the petitioners with an opportunity to participate in that decision-making process or make submissions to Council”

The Mayor of North Saanish, Peter Jones, did respond to a request for comment via email. He stated, "per legal advice from the district lawyer we are not permitted to discuss the petition until after it is heard before the courts."

My take on all of this

I want to first and foremost express the fact that I am not a lawyer and I have no knowledge on the law in British Columbia. Secondly, I am full admitting that I have a bias in my thoughts, as I love the sport of pickleball and want everyone to enjoy the game as much as me.

With that out of the way, here are my thoughts:

It seems to me the Mayor of North Saanich, Peter Jones, was on a power trip when he basically unilaterally decided to introduce a motion to close the pickleball courts, even though this was not on the Council’s agenda that day. It also seems like the Mayor had decided he was going to get rid of the pickleball courts as early as May 2023, in emails with some complaining neighbors.

Furthermore, it is crazy to think about a motion being filed by a Mayor because he thought he had a bad interaction with a group of pickleball players the night before the April 29th meeting. If the players were “nicer” to the Mayor, would the courts still be open?

Mayor Jones is not without controversy in the two years since he took office. Here are some of the issues that Mayor Jones has been associated with:

• January 26th, 2023 - Mayor Jones unilaterally built up four committees and specifically excluded Councillor DiBattista on purpose because he disagreed with DiBattista on the Official Community Plan (OCP). Jones essentially pushed DiBattista out of any real power on the Council.
• March 27th, 2023 - Councillor Brett Smyth resigned his position after calling Mayor Jones “Mr. Hitler” in a recorded Council meeting. The two had argued in the previous Council meeting as well.
• June 5th, 2023 - Mayor Jones was accused of leaking private confidential information to the media, regarding CAO Tim Tanton’s resignation. In fact, the Mayor and Council offered $300,000CAD to Tanton to resign, because they disagreed on the OCP.

Mayor Jones and the Council created a very in depth “strategic plan” in 2023. A direct quote from page 7, “Message from Mayor and Council”:

“We commit to demonstrating good governance practices, transparency, and accountability.”

If the Mayor and/or the Council actually meant any of those words, I do not see how they can justify the closure of the Wain Road Park pickleball courts. They were never transparent about this closure, and hopefully the British Columbia Supreme Court will hold them accountable by reversing the closure decision.

The judicial review will take place December 2nd and 3rd, and the pickleball petitioners and the District of North Saanich will learn the fate of these highly contentious pickleball courts.