Swampscott Votes Down State Money For Phillips Park Pickleball Courts

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott town meeting members were able to stop the town from accepting state grant money ticketed for four pickleball courts at Phillips Park with enough opposition to narrowly prevent the necessary two-thirds majority needed to accept the Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grant.

The most spirited debate of the night came on accepting partial state funding for four pickleball courts at Phillips Park with those in favor arguing that the town is lacking in the resources that serve fans of the "fastest growing sport in the country" that appeals to residents of all generations. Those opposed argued that Phillips Park is not suitable for the courts because of concerns over noise, and parking and that they are proposed for a flood plain.

The state grant would have picked up about $56,000 of the estimated $103,873 necessary for the courts with the warrant article made to accept the funding if available and to transfer control of the park to the Select Board.

Had the motion to accept passed, the full design proposals would have still needed to go through community meetings and the Conservation Commission approval process. Work would not have been allowed to start until June 1.

But all that became moot when only 106 of the town meeting members voted in favor of the motion, with 57 voting against — a margin of 65.6 percent to 34.4 percent. The motion would have required a flip of two additional voters to pass the funding acceptance.

The pickleball grant vote concluded the two-hour town meeting that included the passage of a $1 million transfer of "free cash" to ease the tax burden on residents in 2024, and a "unanimous vote" to implement new single-use plastic restrictions on businesses and organizations that serve prepared food in the town.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)