Can critics stop Snyder Park pickleball deal?

FORT LAUDERDALE — It’s a done deal.

That’s what some are saying about the plan to build a privately-run pickleball complex and restaurant on 8 acres of public land in Fort Lauderdale’s Snyder Park.

But critics of the controversial project are not giving up their fight to block the $10 million project.

“The neighborhood is against it,” said Kevin Cochrane, a community activist leading the charge against the project. “It’s one of those things that can’t be undone [if it gets built]. Ten years from now when you go to Snyder Park, this open space is going to be gone.”

Critics argue the commission vote approving the deal needed to be unanimous. It was not.

The current deal, approved in a 3-1 vote on Nov. 1, is being called a license by city officials and Ellyn Bogdanoff, attorney for the developer My Park Initiative.

But critics say it’s really a lease, not a license. And any lease of park land requires a unanimous commission vote to move forward.

Calling it a license evades the letter and spirit of the city charter, said John Rodstrom Jr., attorney for Save Snyder Park and community activist Kevin Cochrane.

Rodstrom sent the city a red-flag alert on Feb. 15 with an expert opinion from JC Consulting Enterprises President Cecelia Ward saying the comprehensive agreement was flawed and potentially illegal.

Interim City Attorney D’Wayne Spence disagrees.

“The comprehensive agreement does not transfer interest in public property to My Park Initiative,” Spence wrote in a Feb. 25 email to Rodstrom. “Although the city expressly grants MPI a limited license to an exclusive use of the park site … it does not provide MPI with exclusive possession or control of the property. The license or grant of use provides an exclusive, yearround right to the park site for only the listed uses associated with pickleball events. This limited, exclusive use does not interfere with the city’s continued possession of the park site.”

The developer plans to submit a site plan for the pickleball complex in April and open sometime in January 2024.

“We have a contract,” Bogdanoff said. “You can’t undo that. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s illegal. And they’re giving the public their Number One ask for sports and it’s not costing them a dime. We’re investing more than $10 million and the city becomes the owner of the facilities.”

Under the agreement, the company plans to operate the courts for 50 years with an option for two fiveyear extensions. In return, Fort Lauderdale will collect $100,000 annually or 1% of the gross revenue collected the previous year, whichever is greater.

On Monday, Rodstrom continued his attempt to poke holes in the deal.

“It’s currently zoned park open space,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “The city would have to rezone it to commercial recreation. To rezone it, they’d have to get a land use amendment from the county. It’s not a typical park. It’s a commercial recreation area designed for profit. They’re only paying $100,000 a year [with no multiplier]. That’s the crazy thing.”

In 50 years, $100,000 will be worth $8,720 in today’s money.

But fans say the city is getting a $10 million worldclass pickleball complex that will bring tourists and locals in for tournaments and daily play.

Across the United States, pickleball continues to be America’s fastest-growing sport, according to USA Pickleball. A year ago the sport had 5 million players. Their numbers have since rocketed to 9 million.

But tennis is still tops when it comes to overall numbers, with more than 23.6 million players, according to the Tennis Industry Association.

Nancy Long, president of the nearby River Oaks Civic Association, doesn’t care how many people play pickleball. She doesn’t want them playing at Snyder Park.

Long showed up at City Hall on Nov. 1 to plead with commissioners to reject the pickleball deal.

The vote didn’t go the way she wanted, but Long says she still thinks there’s a way to stop the project.

“I never give up,” she said. “No one is against pickleball. Just not at Snyder Park.”

Vice Mayor Warren Sturman, whose district includes the neighborhood, was elected on Nov. 8, one week after a prior commission approved the pickleball deal.

Sturman says he asked about the possibility of reneging on the contract after hearing rumblings from constituents worried about noise, traffic and lights blazing into their homes well after dusk.

Based on current plans, the courts will open at 6 a.m. and close by midnight.

“From what the city attorney tells me, you can’t invalidate a contract after it was signed,” Sturman said. “There’s no ordinance we could sign that would undo a signed contract. The contract is signed. We’re trying to get the best deal we can.”

Some are wondering whether the controversy is heading to court.

But Rodstrom says a judge might not need to weigh in to resolve the matter.

“We shouldn’t need a court case to get the city to do the right thing,” Rodstrom said. “What I would like to see happen is the city manager, city attorney or commission ask the planning staff to weigh in on this. There’s a legal issue here but it’s also a zoning issue. I don’t think it’s allowed under the current zoning.”