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On a recent Saturday afternoon at Rengstorff Park, the sound of paddles hitting pickleballs reverberated on the courts as players teased each other over missed shots while others waited for their turn to join a game.
The sight is not an uncommon one, according to Cliff Chambers, Mountain View Pickleball Club board president. “The courts are always full,” he said, adding that the sport’s popularity has grown rapidly in the past decade but Mountain View has not kept up with the demand.
Currently, there are three dedicated pickleball courts at Rengstorff Park and six additional courts shared with tennis players. The outdoor offerings could expand in the near future though as the city is exploring options to build more pickleball courts, possibly at Cuesta Park or Cuesta Annex, a 12.5-acre plot of undeveloped open space next to the park.
The proposition has alarmed a group of Mountain View residents who say they support adding more courts in the city – just not at the expense of paving over existing green and open spaces to do it.
Opposition to the plan has solidified in recent weeks with an online campaign urging the city to consider alternative locations for pickleball courts, like at a site on San Rafael Avenue that the city recently purchased or at one of Shoreline Park’s parking lots.
The campaign, dubbed “Save Cuesta Park and Annex,” describes the park and adjacent annex as some of the few natural areas left in the city. Opponents of placing pickleball courts on the annex also point out that there has been a long history of campaigns to protect the annex from the encroachment of development projects.
“Once it’s paved over, it can’t come back,” said Leslie Friedman, a Mountain View resident who often visits Cuesta Park. “It’s peaceful and has a lot of trees and walking trails.”
Where to build pickleball courts?
Last year, city staff selected Cuesta Park as one of the most suitable sites for a pickleball facility after looking at more than 60 other locations. The size of the park, its existing infrastructure and its distance from neighboring homes made it a good candidate, according to a report presented to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
But the plan was controversial. To make room for 10 pickleball courts, the city proposed to take over the “dog bowl,” a grassy area of Cuesta Park that is used for off-leash dogs.
The idea was that by placing the pickleball courts at the dog bowl, they would be near the existing tennis courts at Cuesta Park. However, not everyone favored that plan.
“It cannibalized a lot of green space,” including the dog park, said Mike Rodgers, former board president of the Mountain View Tennis Club.
The plan also was expensive, with a projected cost of $5 million, more than what is typical for standard pickleball facilities, according to Chambers.
The city has attributed the high cost to the grading work needed to level the dog bowl. It also factored in the cost of replacing an existing retaining wall and relocating the off-leash dog area to another part of the park, according to a June city memo.
Rodgers is in full support of the city building pickleball courts, which would help ease demand for playing time on the Rengstorff tennis courts. Rodgers stressed that both pickleball and tennis players have been waiting years for the city to build more courts. But he favors putting the courts on the annex, rather than the park.
Rodgers proposed a potential design to the City Council in April, which would place 16 pickleball courts next to the existing tennis courts. According to Rodgers, his plan would not take up a large footprint of open space, requiring only a quarter acre of the annex.
Mountain View Community Services Director John Marchant told the Voice that the city is developing potential layouts for adding pickleball facilities to the annex, including a $4.5 million proposal to build courts next to the existing tennis facilities. The plan would include up to 12 courts and would use less than one acre of the annex, Marchant said. The remaining 11.5 acres would not be touched.
But the Save Cuesta Park and Annex campaign says that every piece of open space matters, as the little remaining natural habitat left in Mountain View is highly valued by residents.
“People are excited about pickleball and want more, but what about the considerations of all the other people?” asked Jialin Jiao, a Mountain View resident who lives near Cuesta Park and supports keeping it as open space for different recreational uses.
Opponents of placing pickleball courts at Cuesta also highlight the noise impact of pickleball. Even with mitigation measures, residents say the constant sound of paddles hitting balls would be disruptive to other people and wildlife in the area.
“The noise would completely change the way the park is enjoyed,” said Kristine Dworkin, a Mountain View resident who lives near Cuesta Park.
She also expressed concern that the pickleball courts would worsen existing parking and traffic issues in the neighborhood.
Other pickleball options?
Cuesta Park and Cuesta Annex are not the only sites that the city is considering for pickleball courts. It also is looking into using recently acquired property on San Rafael Avenue. The city purchased three adjacent plots of land on that street last year as part of a plan to create a 2.3-acre park.
The proposed pickleball facility would be built at 939 San Rafael Avenue and would be less than an acre in size, equivalent to what is being proposed for the annex, according to Assistant Community Services Director Kristine Crosby. There is not yet a cost estimate for the project.
Currently, there is one existing business, Dusty Robotics, on the property. The lease ends next year with an option to renew until September 2027, Wright said.
The San Rafael site is in a relatively industrial area of Mountain View near the U.S. Highway 101 and Highway 85 interchange, with a recycling center and storage facility nearby. The neighborhood also includes a number of single-family homes as well as a recently opened apartment development.
The Save Cuesta Park and Annex campaign supports building pickleball courts at San Rafael, which it says would create recreational opportunities without destroying existing green and open space.
It is unclear how people living around the San Rafael site would feel about the proposal since there has not been much public discussion about it, compared to plans for Cuesta Park and the annex.
The campaign has also proposed other sites for pickleball courts, like parking lots at Shoreline Park.
However, the city maintains that there are no under-utilized parking lots at Shoreline even though it might not appear that way to the public. Certain lots fall under lease agreements with Live Nation, which operates Shoreline Amphitheatre, while others are being used for municipal purposes or are subject to environmental regulations, according to a city memo.
But it is not just people living near Cuesta Park who are pushing the city to consider alternative sites. Even some pickleball players at Rengstorff Park have expressed concerns about building courts in green spaces and open areas.
“We don’t want them there,” Mountain View pickleball player Ray Montanez said, in reference to the annex. “It’s the last remaining open space.” Montanez also said that putting courts at Cuesta Park’s dog bowl was not cost-effective, a point raised by several of his pickleball companions too.
“But we want them everywhere else,” he laughed.
The Mountain View Pickleball Club has not taken a stance on which site it supports yet. “We’re withholding judgment until the actual details are seen,” Chambers said. Still, he expressed a preference for the Cuesta area, noting that the pickleball courts would not be right next to residences.
Chambers anticipated a lot of controversy no matter what decision was reached by the City Council. “(It’s) not going to make everybody happy,” he said.
Before a decision is made, the community will have an opportunity to weigh in on the pickleball design proposals. The city has scheduled a public meeting for 6:30-8 p.m. on Aug. 27 at the Mountain View Community Center, 201 S. Rengstorff Ave.
“At this point, we haven’t been able to share a lot of details of what we’ve been working on behind the scenes and so this is an opportunity for us to bring those forward and really have a good dialogue and seek feedback from the community,” Marchant said.
Putting new pickleball courts in the giant, unused empty lot that is the Cuesta Park Annex is a fantastic idea. No one lives anywhere near it, so why would noise be a concern?
This reminds me of the “Save Cooper Park” campaign that squelched a modest teacher housing proposal. As well as the more recent move to prevent pickleball courts from being built there.
I didn’t know that parks are considered unused lots. News to me since that’s not how it’s zoned.
Jordy,
This point of view is disrespectful of people that use it…as open space.
There are lots of unused lots across Mountain View. This is not one of them.
No one lives anywhere near it? There are houses immediately adjacent to Cuesta Park Annex. The article even has a photo of a house that has nothing but a chain link fence between it and Cuesta Park Annex.
Please go take a walk in the Annex! There are houses all along the perimeter of one side of it! If you don’t that, then I suspect you haven’t been there!
The author overlooked several key issues, including that the city is proposing to pave over Open Space — land it spends millions of dollars to preserve.
Solving a problem (not enough pickleball courts) with a bad idea (paving open space), seems something only this City council seems especially adept at doing.
Paved paradise put in a pickle ball court. When the green is gone it’s gone for good. You cannot get it back. Looks like that’s exactly what the City Council is striving for here in Mountain View. Whether it’s pickle ball courts or high density housing, they’re on a mission that should be obvious to everyone.
Does anyone else find it odd that our current city council– including the mayor — all campaigned on sustainability and declared they would preserve green spaces, and now they’re looking to do is pave over such things? This is a 4.5 million dollar!! Are you kidding? Surely there are better ways to spend this money!
Putting the pickleball courts at the future San Rafael Park would be particularly unjust since this planning area has one of the lowest park-space-to-population ratios in the city, ~0.43 (2020 figures), and has received almost 900 units of new housing (Hiro Apts., The Sevens, Avelle) with more on the way. The Miramonte planning area has a ratio of 3.7, well over the target of 3.0. Although San Rafael Park sits in a light industrial area, there are single family homes along one side and townhouses planned across the street. A neighborhood park should not serve as a resource for the entire city.
In addition, some off street parking would have to be carved out of the new San Rafael park further increasing the park/capita unbalance.
Park-space-to-population-ratio is typically quoted in terms of acres per 1000 residents.
I’m new to this issue, and I use Cuesta Park usually many times a week, walking through it to the YMCA mostly. Personally, I feel paving over any part of the park (for possibly a fad) defeats the beauty and purpose of a park and is not a reasonable long-term solution. Has MV considered striping the Cuesta Park tennis courts also for pickleball? Many other sites have dual striping on their tennis courts. Two other thoughts: 1) Most of the times I walk past the tennis courts, they are not fully utilized. From almost nobody there to maybe half of the courts occupied. 2) I learned from a friend that there are softer balls and padded pickleball paddles that make less noise. Is there any consideration to require this type of equipment at Cuesta Park so pickleball doesn’t get the bad rap it seems to be acquiring? I’m all for community resources used for community members, but also for long-term preservation of nature and beauty and access for all types of uses.
(Sarcasm warning) The City of Mountain View’s official logo is a tree in a grassy area with a sunrise and a road going through it all. In recent years, the vibe of our city has become those box looking housing buildings (everywhere!), bike lanes taking over lanes of roads….
Just get it over with and pave over everything beautiful already. You’re going to do it anyway. But you’d better change the logo of the city to show mountains blocked by views of 7 story high housing units, cause THAT’s the look of the city now, and it appears there’s no going back. Unrestricted development everywhere. How about pickleball courts on the roofs of those buildings? Could that work?
Pickleball is a very bad neighbor. It’s incredibly loud. But 12 courts is arguably too much. What about building half as many? I believe that could fit in near the annex but not actually taking any land from the annex.
Another thing about the annex. I believe it might be home to ground squirrels which are an endangered species. Regardless, it’s definitely home to some burrowing animals that have lived there for years, even if they are not ground squirrels. They co exist with the nice walking trails in the Annex now which are used quite a bit at all hours of the day. There’s no other resource like the Annex in the city and it needs to be preserved.
6 pickleball courts on an existsing flat area of the park might cost well under half of the pricetag for the Dog Bowl. Could not the $3-4 Million saved be put to good use?
City of Mountain View leadership, why are you ignoring your own survey data from 2024 in which:
> 53% of residents said they have NO NEED for pickleball courts
> Another 16% said their pickleball needs are already fully or mostly met
Total: 69% don’t need more pickleball facilities
In contrast, 93% of residents value open grass areas.
While I appreciate that more courts are wanted by a very small group of MV residents, why are the available courts at MV Sports Pavilion under-utilized? There are also courts at El Camino YMCA for all Y-members that are under-utilized. Sunnyvale is building dedicated pickleball courts at De Anza Park, which is less than half of a mile from Mountain View. Let’s not let a small minority of MV residents convince you that we need less open space and more paved courts.
Never in my life have I signed up for a ‘cause.’ To keep Mountain View free of Pickleball might be the cause I’ve yearned for
When it comes to Cuesta Park, the big question is, “Should the recommendations made in the Parks and Open Space Plan of 2014 continue to be followed? Yes or No?” (plan is available at https://www.mountainview.gov/our-city/departments/community-services/parks-and-recreation-strategic-plan ) Note: cover shows a beautiful picture of Cuesta Park, including one of the edges of the amphitheater (/dog bowl). Maybe because Cuesta Park is an absolutely treasured jewel of a park?
The Executive Summary begins with a quote from the Mountain View 2030 General Plan:
““Parks, open space and natural areas benefit human health and the environment through opportunities for physical exercise and access to nature for people, and habitats for plants and animals.”
Page 3: “The Plan has adopted a standard of providing 3 acres of open space per 1,000 persons living in the City.”
Page 7: “The recommendations in this Plan are primarily intended to ensure that parks and open space in Mountain View meet the need of a growing population and access to these resources are evenly distributed throughout the community.
The Plan’s recommendations are grouped into five broad categories:
• Increase Open Space
• Improve Existing Open Space
• Preserve Existing Open Space
• Provide Access to Open Space
• Develop Trail Systems”
When it comes to the proposal to pave over Cuesta Park, the Annex, or any existing park area for that matter, the reality is that such a proposal does not INCREASE, IMPROVE, or PRESERVE open space. Quite the opposite. So why on earth would the City Council issue such a proposal?
Furthermore, the cost of the public services building project has leapt to over $200 million dollars! Yikes! Why is the CC even considering spending $4.8 million on pickleball courts, when it is not a top priority for the city, it destroys open space, most residents don’t want them in Cuesta Park, and we are having budget problems as it is (requiring a tax increase via Measure G in Nov 2024)?
From https://www.savecuestapark.org/:
The City’s own Statistically Significant 2024 survey data reveals a stunning disconnect between what officials want and what residents actually need:
The Numbers:
53% of residents said they have NO NEED for pickleball courts
Another 16% said their pickleball needs are already fully or mostly met
Total: 69% don’t need more pickleball facilities
In contrast, 93% of residents value open grass areas
What This Means: More than two-thirds of Mountain View residents don’t need more pickleball courts. Meanwhile, nearly everyone values the open grass spaces the city wants to pave over.
The Simple Question: Why destroy what 93% of residents value to build what 69% don’t need?
Programs Tell the Same Story: When asked about recreation programs, only 6% of residents prioritized pickleball lessons and leagues. The other 94% wanted fitness programs, youth activities, and swimming.
Bottom Line: Whether you ask about facilities or programs, the message is clear – pickleball isn’t a community priority. The city is pushing ahead with plans that serve a small minority while eliminating the natural spaces that nearly everyone values.
Source: City of Mountain View’s statistically significant survey conducted by an independent 3rd party in 2024 (Download results obtained through a Public Records Act request, https://www.savecuestapark.org/s/ENGLISH-2024-City-of-Mountain-View-Parks-and-Recreation-Needs-Assessment-Surveyxlsx-redacted.pdf )
Pickleball is amazing, and so is skating and riding e-bikes! It’s time to create a space that brings all of these great activities together and gives our kids a place where they can truly thrive.
Imagine adding three pickleball courts, a Tony Hawk-style skatepark, and a full-size e-bike pump track to the community. This would be an incredible resource for our youth—giving them the freedom to explore, have fun, and stay active. But why stop there? Let’s also include a dive pool with a 1-meter, 3-meter, and 10-meter diving board, where kids can safely flip, spin, and push their limits in the water.
There’s the perfect spot for a park that can have a real impact in Mountain View and Los Altos. This isn’t just about building a high-priced facility with a $30 million price tag like Rangstorf—it’s about creating a real place for kids to be kids, to have fun, and to become incredible athletes, while fostering mental and physical health in the process.
Let’s build something meaningful, something that will serve our community for generations. The time to act is now.
Please, please, please do not remove green space at Cuesta Park or Annex for a pickle ball court.
Pickleball at Cuesta Park or Annex would take away from what is an amazing natural respite in our neighborhood and city.
The sound (from either the proposed dogbowl area or the proposes Annex area) will scare away the amazing diverse wildlife, such as the very sensitive blue herons that come to eat and enjoy existence in the Annex. Even any best intentions for modern materials for court, paddles or balls does not avoid the fact that pickleball is a sound nuisance.
The pickleball will annoy the blue herons and owls. Who will think of the natural animals? Will those animals leave, so we can no longer enjoy them? Or will the animals just be annoyed even if a little bit with each POP-POP-POP (which could be heard from over 1000 feet away)?
Can redwoods trees hear? They are old and wise. We do not know. Who will speak for the trees?
But the walkers will know. Many, many people in Mountain View and in Cuesta Park do walk to get away into and commune with local nature at Cuesta Park, every day. It is one of the *most peaceful* places one can go in the area. There is not a better, more peaceful park around.
But a walker in the Park or Annex, would be subject to the jarring and unavoidable POP-POP-POP of pickleball.
Anyone who truly studies pickleball and its impact, and the stories of cities where pickleball was installed in recent years, will see that it has driven people insane with the shocking sound.
There is scant green and open space as it is. It is not “open” for development. It is open for the purpose of being open. This open space significantly adds to the value of Mountain View to call home. Any section repurposed from Cuesta Park and Annex as a pickleball space would be truly a poor decision, for may real and deep reasons.
Yes, people should be able to have a place to play pickleball if they want to. No, Cuesta Park and Annex is not a thinkable place for that.
Does anyone on Council or doing the Study understand the historic and natural signficance of Cuesta Park and Annex? To quote from the 2009 post at [0], “””The Cuesta Annex is the city’s last visual reminder of human interaction with nature which occurred in the first 20 centuries our our valley’s history.”””.
I do not want to do an evening walk around the Annex and hear the POP-POP-POP or see pickleball courts wedged into the space where there is currently a walking trail, or in the space between the tennis courts and the Annex trail.
I do not want to walk around Cuesta Park near the dog bowl, and see what was once a place for dogs frolicking turned into the unavoidable POP-POP-POP of a sporting sensation.
If pickleball is in demand, let’s put it in a suitable place. Please.
[0] https://savethecuestaannex.blogspot.com/2009/12/time-line-history-of-cuesta-park-annex.html
Please feel free to sign up for the new listserv at https://lists.cuestafiles.org and join the Talk mailing list as a place for general discussion to figure out how to make sure the park and annex are saved effectively.
This is distinct from the (most informative and excellent) SaveCuestaPark.org website/efforts mentioned in the article — which I have signed up for but have not heard from yet.
If anyone wants to join this old-fashioned email mailing list to discuss and organize saving Cuesta Park and Annex from pickleball, you are welcome to.
In 2024, the City of Mountain View produced a Strategic Plan for the Parks, based on a survey of residents (2024 Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Survey Findings Report; available from . The survey results were ranked in terms of the relative priorities for investment in 35 different types of facilities and amenities. Pickleball courts were ranked relatively low–tied for 27th place (See page 9 of the report). Priorities for several amenities and facilities related to open space were ranked at much higher levels (multi-use trails; shade structures and shaded picnic areas; small neighborhood parks; native habitat areas and landscaping; trees; etc.). It’s clear that Mountain View residents overwhelmingly value open space over pickleball courts, which degrade the use of open space with their noise and paving. Yet the City seems to be disregarding their own study and the expressed wishes of residents in taking open space in either Cuesta Park/Annex OR the proposed San Rafael site for pickleball courts. The courts in Cuesta Park are estimated to cost about $5 million. If that money is truly available for enhancing the Parks in the city, it should be used for the highest identified priorities–which, again, include several that are elements of open space.
Sorry! A typo in my comment: the report is readily available from
And, again. Apparently the Voice edits out email addresses. The report is readily available from the City of Mountain View.
Make sure to attend “Pickleball Study Project Update Community Meeting (By City of Mountain View)” to have your voice heard this upcoming Wed night.
Date and time: Wednesday, August 27 · 6:30 – 8pm PDT
Location: Mountain View Community Center
201 South Rengstorff Avenue Mountain View, CA 94040
“A City-wide study has been conducted based on community input for new, dedicated pickleball courts. Cuesta Park, Cuesta Park Annex, and the future San Rafael Park site have been identified as potential locations. Staff will present study findings, including location and number of courts recommended to the community for public input and feedback during the meeting.”
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STUDY VISIT: collaborate.mountainview.gov/pickleballstudy
Thank goodness, it sounds like Pickle Ball will stay out of Cuesta Park.
“A group of Mountain View residents launched a campaign, arguing that the courts would destroy valuable green and open space and disrupt the tranquility of the area.”
Darn tootin’. I mean seriously, it doesn’t take much arguing. It should merely need to be *POINTED OUT* that installing Pickle Ball at Cuesta Park would be deleting green open space and disrupting the tranquility of the area. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. No argument, full stop, Pickle Ball at Cuesta would be anti-nature and anti-pleasant-park-experience, which by the way is oh so cherished there.
I guess the San Rafael Avenue community also was aware of the serious value of green space and the serious noise issue that Pickle Ball Presents.
Do you want to hear how pickle ball literally ruins daily life in a significant way for those near it forced to put up with the POP POP POP? If you don’t know, you haven’t researched it. And I should hope our good City Councilpeople would be able to spend 15 minutes on YouTube or Google finding out.
It is well-known that sound has been a major issue for pickleball courts installed in various cities. The sound has been described as not a minor nuisance, but an extreme problem. Plenty of cities jumped on the pickleball bandwagon, only to put the courts into disuses due to the sound problem. Mountian View can learn from those mistakes and not repeat the issues of those cities. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We have the good fortune of being able to benefit from observing those outcomes and previous adopters elsewhere.
The saddest part about the 2025 community meeting on Pickle Ball locations was twofold:
1. The design firm’s response to noise concerns was to PROPOSE A FARILY THICK (TOP BE NOISE DAMPENING) AND PERHAPS SLIGHTLY TRANSLUCENT BLACK TARP ALL THE WAY AROUND THE COURT. Talk about obstruction of vision through the court and to the surrounding green space. Holy eyesore, batman! Cancel that idea, double pronto.
2. The city spoke. The design firm spoke. And just when it seemed the PACKED AUDIENCE OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS might be able to have a productive session… the “little people’s” voices were slienced, literally zero seconds of moderated talk time. Just write you little notes on the post-its and fill out the forms. People at the podium got to talk, but there was no organization. Literally no voice, literally silenced. You could feel just how nervous event staff by the podium was to some degree, seeing the oppositon to certain blatantly poor concepts being floated as if they were reasonable.
If you want to stay organized regarding keeping Picle Ball out of Cuesta Park, technically the listserv at https://lists.cuestafiles.org still exists for the time being and if you would like you may join the Talk mailing list as a place for general discussion. Althought honestly it is very quiet, and I am not sure if it is needed any more, if we are past that now. (Not a false sense of goal achievement, this reader hopes.)
Thanks for the great reporting as always, MV-Voice.
The above comment was intended to have been posted under the new article at https://www.mv-voice.com/outdoor-recreation/2026/02/13/mountain-view-in-active-negotiations-to-secure-new-pickleball-facility/