Boise Settles Lawsuit, Returns Courts at Willow Lane & Manitou Parks too tennis
The City of Boise has settled a lawsuit regarding pickleball court conversions, resulting in the transition of courts at Willow Lane park and Manitou Park back to tennis only.The decision stems from an agreed-upon settlement finalized on August 20, 2025, and detailed in a publicly available document (http://www.cityofboise.org/media/20407/2025-08-20-settlement-agreement.pdf).
The Manitou Park courts are included due to similar neighborhood concerns and their proximity to residents. Willow lane Park’s courts were initially converted to pickleball in 2018.the surge in pickleball’s popularity, notably as 2019 and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, led Boise to convert some tennis courts to meet increased demand.
However,these conversions didn’t universally succeed,ultimately leading to litigation. The City opted for a settlement to avoid ongoing legal costs and maintain focus on serving all park users. Over two years of negotiations, compromise proposals, pilot programs, and good-faith efforts were undertaken by Boise Parks and Recreation to balance neighborhood needs with the citywide demand for pickleball (details are available in the Tort Claim filed by the Plaintiffs: http://www.cityofboise.org/media/20406/2025-06-09-complaint.pdf). Previous attempts to mitigate concerns included limiting court hours, three-day-a-week closures, and the installation of sound barriers at Willow lane Park, but these proved unsuccessful.
Construction to revert the courts is currently underway, scheduled for completion before December, as stipulated in the settlement agreement. Boise Parks and Recreation is developing new pickleball court siting guidelines for future placements and continues to explore opportunities to add pickleball courts elsewhere in the park system.
More information on the settlement is available at https://www.cityofboise.org/departments/parks-and-recreation/pickleball-courts-legal-settlement-statement/, and a list of other Boise Parks and Recreation pickleball locations can be found at https://www.cityofboise.org/departments/parks-and-recreation/activities-classes-and-sports/adult-sports/adult-pickleball/.
