Hearings examiner rules in favor of tennis center at Camas High School

The Camas School District’s plan to create an enclosed, year-round community tennis center at Camas High School took a step forward last week after a Camas hearings examiner OK’d a critical city permit.

On April 28, Camas Hearings Examiner Joe Turner granted the school district a conditional use permit, paving the way for the district and the U.S. Tennis Association Pacific Northwest to enclose the high school’s eight outdoor tennis courts in a 59,800-square-foot, all-season bubble; add parking, restrooms and a lobby; transfer management of the facility to the tennis association for at least 30 years; promote tennis programs for all Camas students; and open the high school tennis courts to paying members of the public.

Opponents of the proposal argued during a March 20 public hearing before Turner that the planned tennis center would create safety and traffic hazards at the high school and reduce the number of free, public tennis courts in the area. They also were concerned about the district allowing a private organization to operate a commercial venture on publicly owned tennis courts.

Camas school leaders, however, have long said the partnership will benefit the district and its students by enhancing tennis education. The tennis association will spend $2 million on the court improvements. District leaders also say the year-round tennis center will provide more equitable play for Camas High’s girls tennis team, which often struggles to work around rained-out practices and matches during the spring tennis season.

In his final order, Turner ruled that the proposed tennis facility is allowed as a conditional use at the high school and that arguments pertaining to the tennis association’s status as a private organization have no bearing on the required city permit.

“The fact that the facility will be operated as a private entity is irrelevant,” Turner said in his final order. “The decision to enter into a public-private partnership and allow a private entity to operate the facility is a policy choice by the school district and the examiner has no authority to review those policy choices in this land use proceeding.”

The hearings examiner also found “no evidence that private use of the facility during school hours and during after-school events and activities will significantly impact security on the school campus.”

In his order, Turner noted that, although the proposed community tennis center will allow paying members to use the courts during school hours, after school, on weekends and during the summer months, there is “no evidence that additional traffic … will cause an increased hazard for students during after-school sports and events.”

On Thursday, Jasen McEathron, the school district’s director of business services, said he was pleased by Turner’s final order and looks forward to moving into the next phase of the facility’s development.

“The project will serve our student athletes, physical education students and community for years to come with our partners in USTA,” McEathron said in an emailed statement.

The examiner’s decision can be appealed to Clark County Superior Court.