Did you know pickleball courts were built and removed from the same Preserve locations being proposed? Pickleball  courts in the Preserve were removed once before due to noise complaints, impact on home values and impact to the clubhouse. And today there even more homes in the same area.  Courts were also removed at Desertview for the very same issues and problems. Do we need to keep wasting money and have conflict? The clubhouse and surrounding amenities are important to all homeowners in Saddlebrooke. The appropriate use of homeowners money is in question

Let’s look at some recent pickleball history.  In May, the Ranch prohibited HOA1 and 2 residents from using their pickleball courts due to Covid-19.  At the same time, according to the HOA2 board and Saddlebrooke Pickleball Association (“SPA”), the development of the new 8 Ridgeview courts was talking longer than anticipated. The result of those 2 issues was for the board to have 2 Preserve tennis courts temporarily made into 4 pickleball courts.

In mid-September, SPA made a request of the board to make the existing 4 temporary pickleball courts permanent and add an additional 4 permanent courts to the Preserve.

Somehow, we went from 4 temporary courts to 8 permanent courts.

This presented an unacceptable change to some HOA2 homeowners and the Saddlebrooke Tennis community. Just as a reminder, several years ago, even fewer courts were removed from the Preserve due to noise complaints. The area has even more homes now.

A group of us spent time during the past 2 weeks trying to find solutions for the issues raised by SPA for making the proposal in the first place.

One of the first things we did was contact the Robson group by phone and email.  To our surprise and despite what was said by the board at the board work session on Friday, Robson had never been contacted by the HOA2 board to see what could be done to resolve the issues.  Not only that, but at the work session the board indicated that Robson was in favor of pickleball at the Preserve.

Here is a direct copy of an email from Jack Sarsam, Senior Vice President – Operations, Robson Communities, Inc. Mr. Sarsam did emphasize these are his opinions only.

First it is clear from the email that Mr. Robson does not want Pickleball courts in the Preserve. 

Also, based on this email it would appear that the issue regarding the loss of use of the Ranch pickleball courts should be resolved very soon and HOA1 and 2 will be able to use the courts beginning by October 19^th.

EMAIL FROM JACK SARSAM SENIOR VP OPERATIONS ROBSON

Robson has been working with SPA, the HOA2 Board, and the county for more than 18 months to transfer the property necessary to construct additional pickleball courts by the RV Storage facility and next to the existing pickleball courts.  The Planning and zoning department has insisted on a number of requirements in order to accomplish this.  The COVID pandemic has slowed this process down significantly.   

The special warranty deed is now complete.  RCI has committed an additional $30,000 to satisfy the county requirements.  SPA will still have to get permits after the MLD is complete.

We continue to look for additional land with in HOA2 for additional pickleball courts, however, the options are limited.

Robson is working on renewing the SBR reciprocal agreement for 6 courts and should have that completed in a week.   It is estimated that play could begin there by October 19th.

Mr. Robson has made it clear to me that tennis is the preferred use at the Preserve.

Thank you, 

Jack Sarsam

When you read the email, you get the impression that the issues facing SPA relate to things they need to accomplish.  They still need to get permits and then commence construction at Ridgeview.  The ball is in their court and they are asking Preserve homeowners to live with the consequences of their inability to get the courts built as quickly as they would like.  And they want those 8 Preserve courts to be PERMANENT.  Where’s the logic in that? If they are allowed to take over these tennis courts, what will the future look like?

The board has now changed its position and has made the decision to keep the courts in the Preserve temporary until 8 new courts are built at Ridgeview.  While we found that decision was moving in the right direction, there were many contingencies that needed to be resolved for that to happen.  So we decided to meet with Jack Sarsum, Senior Vice President of Robson properties.