Plan Commission To Weigh Permit For Pickleball Courts At Ackerman Park

GLEN ELLYN, IL — On Dec. 12, the Glen Ellyn plan commission will consider a special use permit that would allow the construction of four outdoor pickleball courts at Ackerman SFC.

The park district has proposed to build the pickleball courts in the northeastern part of Ackerman SFC's park. The unlighted pickleball courts will be surrounded by fencing and will feature a 12-foot by 30-foot shaded area between the courts for viewing matches.

Per village code, "only open space uses, and passive recreation areas are allowed by permitted use in the CR Conservation/Recreation District, and all buildings, structures and principal activity areas are allowed by special use only."

In their narrative statement to the plan commission, park district officials contend that the pickleball courts align with the village code's "open space and passive recreation uses."

Per the applicants, the courts will be located in a "secluded part of [the]property" and will be designed to match the surrounding structures. The narrative asserts that noise will be "mitigated by distance and woodland buffer," with the closest neighborhood approximately 500 feet from the facility.

The proposed outdoor pickleball courts are part of the Ackerman SFC expansion and maintenance that was part of a $15.9 million bond referendum question presented by the park district and favored by voters in 2022.