Pickleball site plan, special land use approved
By Dana Casadei
Pickleball is on its way to Bloomfield Township this fall, thanks to the approval of the site plan and special land use request for Ace Pickleball by the township trustees at their meeting on Monday, February 26.
Solu Pickleball, LCC will bring the national franchise, Ace Pickleball, to the area, which will be located at 2285 Franklin Road in the Research Park District, an area already well known for its versatile sports offerings.
Trustees Neal Barnett, Valerie Murray and Mark Antakli were all positively outspoken about this plan, commenting on how this will add to an already bustling area in Bloomfield Township.
“I think it’s a great use of the facilities,” Barnett said. “It’ll bring more activities… I think it’ll do very well here.”
The space itself will consist of 11 courts and an 1,800-square-foot mezzanine spread across its 32,250 square feet, occupying the eastern portion of the building. The western side will continue to be used for offices.
Because it will be located in the Research Park District, there are no regulated hours of operation. This works in their favor since the offices are closed on the weekends and that will be Ace Pickleball’s peak hours during the week. Ace Pickleball’s proposed hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.- 10 p.m.; Saturday, 6 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sunday 6 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Ace Pickleball plans to be open membership too.
There was general enthusiasm for what Ace Pickleball will bring to Bloomfield Township, and the proposal itself was an incredibly straightforward one, something Andrea Bibby, deputy director of the planning, building & ordinance, who presented the project, noted multiple times during her presentation.
No exterior changes were proposed to the space, where there is already a plethora of well-manicured vegetation; and the site plan received a favorable recommendation from both the design review board and planning commission.
Bibby said there was no concern with the special land use either. They found in their review of the proposal that there would be no extra noise in the area, no exterior changing to the lighting, and no exterior building changes, Bibby said.
Murray brought up how the concern for many pickleball courts is the noise, so she was glad to see that would not be the case with this facility since it’ll all be indoors.
Given that Ace Pickleball will have a parking lot used by offices in the building, a shared parking study was completed this past October. The study concluded that the parking demand will be met and satisfied with the 347 parking spaces that are currently there. A shared parking agreement was created between Ace Pickleball and the offices being used within the building.
There were no objections from the assessing department or the police department, and the site plan has been reviewed by the fire department, and the engineering and environmental services department
“We’re really excited,” said Matthew Sosin, the applicant for this project. “It’s been a really smooth process.”
Sosin noted that everyone from Bloomfield Township his team has worked with has been great, and that since their focus is purely on pickleball, they had no intention of making massive changes to the space.
This also plays a part in to why they have no desire of trying to obtain a liquor license. They’ll sell some snacks, like energy bars, and drinks such as Gatorade and water, Sosin said.
For those who do want to host a corporate event or birthday party at Ace Pickleball, they will be responsible to bring in their own food, if desired, Sosin said.
The toard of Trustees passed 7-0 both the special land use and approved the site plan with conditions included.
