The tennis committee of Heritage Hills condominiums is not about to let an upstart pickleball paddle sport take over the main tennis court.
Three members of the tennis committee sued Heritage Hills Society Ltd. ”“ a nonprofit that runs the recreational facilities at the vast residential community ”“ last month in Westchester Supreme Court. They are demanding that the society back off plans to convert the most popular tennis court to four pickleball courts.
The tennis committee, as depicted in the complaint, is not just a clique of tennis devotees. It organizes social events, sets up tournaments, arranges meets and greets, and it is a “central source of information and communication to residents ”¦ interested in tennis.”
The society”™s attorney, John J. LaGumina of Harrison, said his client “feels the lawsuit is without merit,” and he will seek to get it dismissed.
Heritage Hills is composed of 2,600 homes organized in 30 clusters, on 1,100 acres in Somers.
The society is a separate organization that operates the club house, swimming pools, golf courses, fitness center, tennis courts and other recreational facilities.
Everyone who buys a home automatically becomes a member of the society and pays dues to use the amenities, according to the lawsuit.
The main activity center has three tennis courts, and more courts are located at four satellite recreational centers.
The courts are there by design, as described in the condominium offering plan, the official document required by state law.
Louise Squitieri, Esther Weiss and Dena Goldstein of the tennis committee claim that the society unilaterally decided to convert the most popular tennis court at the main activities center with pickleball courts.
Pickleball is a mashup of tennis, table tennis and badminton played with paddles and a kind of wiffle ball. It was invented around 1965 as a children”™s backyard game, and spread to gyms and public parks and retirement communities. Proponents say it is one of the fastest growing sports in the country.
The tennis committee claims that the society did not put the pickleball plan to a vote by all members, as required by its bylaws.
The bylaws “did not intend to bestow such a sweeping and broad power upon Society”™s board of directors,” Squitieri, vice president of the tennis committee, states in an affidavit. “Where would Society”™s power end?” she asked.
The tennis committee had offered a compromise, she said. The lines on the tennis court could be repainted to accommodate both sports, but the society “declined to even entertain this suggestion.”
Instead, she says, the society intends to demolish the tennis court”™s carpeted floor and replace it with a new surface, as early as this month.
The tennis committee accuses the society of anticipatory breach of contract, violating its fiduciary duty to condominium owners and violating the condominium offering plan. It is asking the court to stop the society from replacing the tennis court with pickleball courts until it obtains consent from the members.
The tennis committee is represented by Poughkeepsie attorney Christina I. Tomaselli.
