Council Ushers in New Era for Coronado Tennis

The new opens next month, with it will come a new era for local tennis fans.

“It will serve the community in a big way,” said Linda Rahn, the city’s recreation director.

Following a unanimous vote by the on Tuesday, the center will have a new concessionaire to operate retail tennis services and a nonteaching recreation coordinator to oversee court use. Part-time staff will be hired to assist in the summer. Plans also call for a mini tennis shop that will sell and rent equipment. A ball machine and racquet stringing will also be available.

To offset the cost of hiring additional staff, the city will receive a portion of the fees charged for lessons and will charge court fees for advance court reservations at the Tennis Center. All other courts will be free. 

Residents will still be able to play for free on courts at the center, but only on a walk-in basis. Nonresidents will be charged $5. For advance court reservations, a resident will pay $2 per hour and must make the reservation at least seven days in advance. Nonresidents will pay $10 and must make their reservations at least five days in advance. Guest of residents will not be charged.

There are also fees for group use. Coronado school teams and the Coronado Tennis Association will not be charged.  

Under the , teaching professionals will share 20 percent of their group instruction fees with the city and 10 to 15 percent of their private lesson fees. The lower percentage is for pros that have been teaching in Coronado for sometime and have donated their time to the tennis program, Rahn explained.

Pros that are not part of the Coronado Tennis Association can rent a court for $18 an hour. Fee payment and scheduling must be made in advance. All instructors will be subject to a full Department of Justice background check, including fingerprinting. A tuberculosis and proof of insurance program will also be required. 

The new program will begin after the current concessionaire’s contract ends on June 30. Full implementation is expected within 18 to 24 months.

“We will be in transition and will need to be flexible, but we have a very good base,” Rahn said.

In other action:

The council chose seven citizens to serve on the new : Douglas P. Crane will represent the Shores; Phil Monroe will represent the Cays; Richard Scharff, Michael Giorgione and John Moutes will represent the Village. Patrick Garahan and Jefferson Alison III were chosen as at-large members.

Before the vote the council noted the exceptional talent the 20 candidates offered the city. All were professionals with vast experience in public service. Many had a strong background traffic management.

 “I am humbled by the quality of the applicants,” Mayor Casey Tanaka said. 

Knowing that the council could only select seven of the 20 applicants, he urged those that were not selected “to stay involved and to see [their] participation as valuable.”  

The council approved a Major Special Use permit for . The permit allows the church to renovate one of its buildings and to continue to operate its elementary school and other activities. The vote was unanimous.

Also, on a unanimous vote, the council approved the placing of a stop sign at the corner of Ynez Place and Gloriettia Boulevard. It also approved a measure to prohibit motor vehicles from turning right onto Glorietta between 2 and 6 p.m. Residents have about traffic speeding down the block and tour buses clogging their narrow street.  

The City Council will hold a special budget meeting on Wednesday, April 13, in the Council Chambers.

In these tough economic times, the council felt it was important to devote an entire meeting to the issue, Tanka said.

Because of special budget meeting, the council’s April 19 meeting has been cancelled. The next City Council meeting will be Tuesday, May 3.