While Oak Harbor leaders are making important decisions about infrastructure, taxes and the future of the marina, complaints about sticky tape garnered the most public comments during a city council meeting last week.

Nearly a dozen tennis players sent in public comment to complain that pickleball players befouled Sumner Park courts by gluing down tape about two months ago. The tennis players want the city to remove the tape residue and find alternative courts for the over-enthusiastic picklers.

In fact, resident Howard Strickland said the residue is “simple vandalism” and urged police to press charges against the sticky tape “tortfeasors.”

“Do not reward this criminal action,” he wrote.

Even after the tapes were removed, the tacky glue that made up the pickleball court lines has rendered the tennis court “unplayable,” according to Aleksandr Litvachuck, who wrote a public comment for the council meeting. He noted the only solution is for the city to paint over the residue.

In an email to the News-Times, Parks and Recreation Director Brian Smith said they do not plan on removing the lines.

“There is no differential in the coefficient of the surface that would cause a safety issue or interfere with play other than the visual aesthetic,” he said. “The visible lines left over by the duct tape put down by the North Whidbey Pickleball Association are not sticky, just visually distracting and should fade quickly over time during regular play.”

The sticky debate is part of a larger community tug-of-war between tennis and pickleball players; they both want adequate playing surfaces for their preferred sport.

Apart from annoying tape, tennis players are also concerned that the city may convert the Sumner Park tennis courts into pickleball courts. Charles Niedzialkowski said a total of 90 tennis players use the courts during the week and argued that this must not be “cannibalized” by the pickleball community.

In September, Darin Cook, president of the Whidbey Pickleball Association, which has more than 160 players, noted that outdoor picklers are limited to just four courts on Oak Harbor School District property at Rotary Park near North Whidbey Middle School. With two of the courts in poor condition, Cook said, the courts would be insufficient even if they were all of high quality, according to a News-Times article.

In August, the council approved an agreement with a contractor for design and permitting of pickleball courts at Fort Nugent Park, but the city does not currently own any pickleball courts or have funding for construction.

However, the tennis players don’t have abundant options either. With only two courts available at Sumner, which is under threat of being designated a pickleball court, and six courts at the Oak Harbor High School, which are off limits during school hours, tennis options are limited, reflected two Whidbey residents, Sheri Blessings and Phillip Nakamo, in statements.

Facing the dilemma, one Island County resident, Marina Strickland, offered a “win-win” solution for the pickleball versus tennis issue during her write-in public comment. She suggested that the city could improve and increase the existing pickleball courts, at the least cost per court, and open more tennis courts at the high school for day use.