VIENNA, Va. — In January, the Town of Vienna implemented designated pickleball play time -- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9 a.m. to 7 a.m., and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Glyndon Park.
"Knowing we're gonna have days off and not just oh thank God it's raining type of day," Dan Leas who lives across the street from Glyndon Park. "I think we can tolerate that," he told WUSA9 back in January when the motion initially passed.
It went into effect March 1, but since then, police have responded to more than 30 complaints, according to Leslie Herman, the Town of Vienna Parks and Recreation Director.
There are signs posted up with the designated pickleball hours and the town has even locked the nets at Glyndon Park to prevent people from violating these rules.
Herman told WUSA9 that between March 1 and June 20, the Vienna Police Department "received 17 calls where they found were no violation, it was unfounded. There were 19 calls that came in for pickleball and a violation was given."
The signs and locked nets didn't stop a group of teens from playing anyway. In the shadow of the no pickleball sign, a group of teens played Tuesday night despite the nets being locked up.
Locking the nets, is something the town recently implemented.
"We lock them against the fence when the scheduled time is over and in the mornings we come back and we unlock the pickleball nets so that they can play," said Herman.
Ken Terrell is a member of the Vienna Pickleball Club and says they want to work with the community. He didn't mind the idea of locking the nets when pickleball isn't allowed to be played. He says people should be following the rules.
"There's a new sign on the gate that says no pickleball at these hours. If they come and play at those hours, they should be held accountable," Terrell said.
Terrell says the sport is growing and that the Vienna Pickleball Club has more than a thousand members on Facebook.
"It's going to keep getting bigger and bigger," said Terrell.
He says they would love to have more 'open play' time.
"What's destroyed it is having to have reservations to play at all times of the day and people don't know if there's going to be a court open, so they don't come," said Terrell.
Right now, there's a petition circulating, calling on Fairfax County to make two of the tennis courts at Nottaway Park, pickleball courts.
Town of Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert told WUSA9 Tuesday night, that she would love to see Fairfax County offer up some pickleball space.
"Our Vienna residents are county residents."
She told WUSA9 that she's in process of writing a letter to the Fairfax County boards of supervisors.
"Nothing threatening. We are really just saying, as a team what can we do," said Mayor Colbert.
She told WUSA9 they understand it's a growing sport and want to find a balance.
"I think we are very lucky. Our community is very fortunate that this is our big problem, but I do understand that people love the sport and I also understand that residents want peace," she said.
She told WUSA9 that they are looking at the park masterplan and trying to see if there are other places they can put courts.
They're also going to continue monitoring the situation at Glyndon Park and an update will be presented at the town council meeting on Sept. 11.