Ongoing Efforts and Status

======================================== New: Email Campaign                         Posted 10/1/2022
With your support, we have achieved in getting at least 4 dedicated pickleball courts in the Bellevue Airfield Park development plan. Now please join our campaign to increase the number to 8 or more.

Action Needed:
    Send support email to Bellevue Parks Advisory Board (ParkBoard@bellevuewa.gov) by 10/5
    You do not have to be a Bellevue resident to participate

Email campaign to advocate for 8 or more dedicated pickleball courts in the Airfield Park       Status: Open

The Bellevue Parks Department is updating the Master Plan for the Bellevue Airfield Park. In the Public Engagement Meeting #2 (9/22), all the 3 proposed development options for the park include dedicated pickleball courts. This would not be possible without your support (by showing up at the meeting and sending in support emails)! Thank you!

However, the proposed number (4) of courts and the space allocated to dedicated pickleball courts do not reflect the tremendous amount of public support we have, the current and future need of the pickleball community and the space available for pickleball courts in the Airfield Park.

We are spearheading a campaign to increase the number of courts to 8 or more. Please support this campaign by sending an email to the Bellevue Parks Advisory Board (ParkBoard@bellevuewa.gov) by 10/5 before its next meeting on 10/11.

The focus of your support email should be on getting 12 to 16 dedicated pickleball courts in the Airfield Park. If you have other items on your wish list, such as roofs and lights, please feel free to include them in your email.

Please send in your supporting email even if you have attended, voted and expressed your opinions in the 9/22 Public Engagement Meeting #2.

Thank you for your participation in helping to add pickleball courts in Bellevue.

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Public Engagement Meeting #2 for Bellevue Airfield Park Master Plan Update                       Status: Closed

Date: September 22, 2022 (Thursday), 6:30-8 p.m.
Location:
    South Bellevue Community Center
    14509 SE Newport Way, Bellevue
Meeting Format:
    In-person only. No virtual option.
    Registration not required.

The Bellevue Parks Department is updating the Master Plan for the Bellevue Airfield Park. This is the second of the three planned public engagement meetings. Three options for the Airfield Park development are supposed to be presented in this meeting. Input from the pickleball community on these options is crucial in determining whether 8 or more dedicated pickleball courts will be included in the Airfield Park. Please come to the meeting and express your preferences.

If you are unable to attend the meeting, there will be an opportunity afterwards to express your preferences on the options. We will provide information on the Airfield Park options to the pickleball community and coordinate an email campaign to express our preferences. We plan to have this notification out about one week after the meeting.

More information can be found on the Bellevue Airfield Park webpage.

Thank you for your participation in helping to add pickleball courts in Bellevue.

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Public Engagement Meeting #1 for Bellevue Airfield Park Master Plan Update                       Status: Closed

Date: July 26, 2022 (Tuesday), 6:30-8 p.m.
Meeting Format:
    Virtual Zoom meeting. Pre-meeting registration required.
    Interactive breakout sessions likely.
    Input via emails are also welcomed.

The Bellevue Parks Department is updating the Master Plan for the Bellevue Airfield Park. It is soliciting public input on the community's preferences on the use of this park. The July 26 meeting is the first of three planned Public Engagement Meetings between July and November 2022. The Master Plan will be updated in 2023 based on public input.

In the 6/14 Bellevue Parks Advisory meeting, we managed to insert dedicated pickleball courts into the conversation on the Bellevue Airfield Park Master Plan Update with our unsolicited proposal and the impressive 91 supporting emails. The Public Engagement meetings are part of the Master Plan Update process. Participation in and providing input for these meetings are critical to achieving our goal.

You don't need to be a Bellevue resident to attend the meeting and/or provide input.

To attend this Zoom meeting, you need to register on the Bellevue Airfield Park webpage. The Register To Attend button is located at the bottom of that webpage.

If you are unable to attend the meeting (and even if you are going to attend the meeting), please spend 5 minutes to send in a supporting email to Ken Kroeger (kkroeger@bellevuewa.gov), project manager for the Airfield Park. Please do so before the meeting date (7/26), but preferably by the end of Friday (7/22).

Please send in your supporting email even if you have sent one in for the 6/14 Advisory Board Meeting. Supporting emails for the Public Engagement Meetings will be counted separately from those for the Advisory Board Meeting.

Your email does not have to be long. See an example below. Please note that we want to emphasize further to have the pickleball courts developed in the first phase of the Bellevue Airfield Park.

Sample supporting email:
'I support the inclusion of eight (or more) dedicated pickleball courts in the Bellevue Airfield Park as presented by David Lai and Leslie Wang in the 6/14 Bellevue Parks Advisory Board Meeting. Furthermore, I support the idea that these dedicated pickleball courts be built in the first phase of the Airfield Park development since they are relatively small in size and inexpensive, and can be completed in a short time. Completion of these courts for the Washington state sport would provide an early success story for the Airfield Park development.'

Let's get dedicated pickleball courts built. Your support and action are essential to this effort. Let's get more than 91 supporting emails.

Thank you for your participation in helping to add pickleball courts in Bellevue.

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Bellevue Parks Funding Priority Survey     Status: Closed

Bellevue Parks is conducting another general survey in soliciting public opinions on its funding priorities. This is a very important survey as the survey results would be linked to funding priority lists in a Bellevue Parks Levy Referandum in the near-future.

The survey can be accessed from the Bellevue City website under 'Bellevue Parks Funding Priorities Questionnaire' on the right of the page. Please complete the survey before 7/5/2022 although I believe that this deadline might be extended.

It is a short survey (about 5 minutes). Pickleball courts are not listed specifically in this survey. But there is an open comment section at the end. Please put in something like 'We want to have 8 or more dedicated outdoor pickleball courts built in Bellevue'.

Don't forget to answer in the optional questions after the survey, especially if you are a Bellevue resident or work in Bellevue.

Thank you for your participation in helping to add pickleball courts in Bellevue.

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Parks Advisory Meeting 6/14/2022      Status: Closed

Please send an email to Bellevue Parks Advisory Board (parkboard@bellevuewa.gov) to support this proposal. The email does not have to be long. A simple sentence as shown below will do.

Suggested email message to Bellevue Parks:

I support the inclusion of dedicated pickleball courts in the Bellevue Airfield Park as presented by David Lai and Leslie Wang in the 6/14 Bellevue Parks Advisory Board Meeting.

Meeting Summary

The meeting went well. David Lai and Lesslie Wang presented our proposal as oral communications in the meeting. The idea was well received. We saw lots of heads nodding (in agreement and not falling asleep). The Parks Department received 91 emails from the pickleball community supporting this proposal. Thank you all for your participations.

I think we get a foot in the door even though we are a bit late to the party. However it does not mean we have our dedicated PB courts any time soon. It is a long process. Your further input to the Bellevue Parks will be needed.

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Background

A proposal for including 8 dedicated pickbleall courts in the development of the Bellevue Airfield Park has been sent to the Parks Advisory Board on June 7, 2022.

Click here to view or download a copy of the proposal

The proposal was presented to the Bellevue Parks Advisory on 6/14/2022. It was well-received. But this is just the beginning. Further efforts and your participation in providing inputs to the Parks Department are needed.

The left column will be updated to request your help as needed. Thank you advance for your support!