The Dunwoody Planning Commission at its Aug. 11 meeting will consider a request from the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta to allow it to build a four-court indoor pickleball facility.
According to a letter to the city, the organization is asking for a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP), or an extension of one that was granted in 2023, to allow the addition of a 10,000-square-foot indoor facility near the existing courts.
An outdoor facility containing 12 courts opened in June 2024 as part of an extensive renovation on the 50-acre site that included the construction of an outdoor pool and other amenities.
“The proposed indoor pickleball building furthers the JCC’s mission of fostering a vibrant community without burdening the public in any way,” the application said.
Community meeting July 2
The application said the JCC held a community meeting at the property on July 2, after mailing a letter to the owners of 342 properties located within 1,000 feet of the property. At the meeting, which 13 people attended, among the questions asked was whether membership dues would increase to fund the facility’s construction, which JCC officials said would not happen.
The application said “while most attendees seemed either favorably inclined or neutral towards the proposed indoor pickleball building, much of the community meeting was dedicated to addressing numerous comments made by one attendee, who stated she was opposed to the existing pickleball courts.”
The unnamed attendee accused the JCC of scheduling the meeting on July 2 so fewer people would come, said the JCC’s use of the property “is detrimental to the quality of life of nearby property owners,” and that the conversation of players is “annoying.”
Other attendees, the application said, “privately expressed their support for the JCC and the proposed pickleball building.”
Project specifics
A letter from the Galloway Law Group, representing the applicant, said the new pickleball building’s roofline is proposed to be lower in height than adjacent buildings.
“The nearest adjoining lots are located to the south and thus outside of the proposed building’s shadow zone created by the sun’s daily movement over the building,” the letter said. “Moreover, the property provides a 40-foot-wide buffer along the property line shared with these adjoining lots, further reducing any impacts the proposed building might have on them.”
During deliberations for the outdoor courts’ SLUP application, the council asked JCC officials to ensure that noise generated by the facility would be reduced as much as possible. After the courts opened, residents reported that they were satisfied with the noise levels.
The application for the indoor courts said the JCC has installed “a sound attenuation fence and new tree plantings when it developed the existing outdoor pickleball courts,” but is amenable to looking at other sound-mitigating efforts to address neighborhood concerns while building the new facility.
Rough Draft has reached out to JCC officials for comment and will include more information as it is received.
