First Refusal Letter

So our club has had its first refusal letter from the Salt Lake City Parks Dept. we of course would like to use an abandoned tennis court in a drug dealing park that they are atempting to revitalize but won't allow a group of polo players to use because we could damage the peeling court paint. Interested in comments on how to get approval. I have seen and read the Mallet Mafia's proposal and maybe we have to go that direction. Take a look at the attached content of the letter and refusal email.

Proposal Letter
Dear Salt Lake City Parks Division Manager,

The Beehive Bike Polo Club is writing you regarding the tennis court that is located on the west side of Pioneer Park and a possible alternate use for the facility. This alternate use would improve the facility and attract the patronage that the city is trying to encourage with the revitalization plans for the park. We play a sport that is quickly gaining popularity around the country (especially in urban areas) called Hardcourt Bike Polo (HC Polo).

This sport is derived and urbanized from the original sport of grass Bike Polo that was started in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Grass bike polo has actually been played for 10+ years at Liberty Park on the fields on the east side of the park, without incident or damage to the park facilities or grass. We have also been playing HC Polo at Liberty Park for about a year and a half on the handball courts south of the tennis courts.

The reason the Beehive Bike Polo Club is petitioning you about the Pioneer Park tennis court is that it is centrally located and appears to offer better lighting.

It might help to have a brief explanation of the sport of HC Polo so that you will have a better understanding of our desire to use the facility. The equipment used to play HC Polo is as follows: a bicycle for each player on the court and it can be a mountain bike or a road bike also helmets are strongly recommended (our group even has loaner helmets), the ball that is used is generally a street hockey ball, four cones used to make the goals on either end of the court, and a mallet for each player (mallets are constructed of 2” plastic pipe attached to an old ski pole or bamboo dowel and don’t mark or damage the court surface). HC Polo is played on an asphalt or concrete surface and there are 3 players on each team. The opposing teams are trying to hit the ball through their opponent’s goal. Games generally end at a designated time of 10-15 minutes with the team having scored the most points being declared the winner. The time limit is also dependant up on how many players are looking to get in the next game. With the fast pace action of the game a fenced area is very helpful in keeping the ball in play. Our group has had a long standing Tuesday Polo Night and the fact that a lot of our group has families and are working professionals we tend to start our games by 7PM in the summer and 6PM in the winter and play until 11PM or as long as the court stays lit. We consider HC Polo to be a year round sport and there are many in our group willing to shovel snow and brave freezing temperatures to play throughout the winter.

As mentioned previously, we have been playing either hardcourt or grass polo at Liberty Park for many years with no incidents or complaint. Our group is willing to assist in maintaining and up keeping the facility if we are allowed to use it for HC Polo. We have investigated the court and have noticed that there is broken glass, old food, and tree debris currently littering the court. In this state it is not likely that the average tennis player would consider using it for its original intended use. If we are allowed to use the facility we would do the following maintenance items with regard to the days that our group uses the facility: general weed control as needed by hand pulling or a line trimmer (trimmer provided by our group), and sweeping the court. We are also willing to mend two decent size holes in the perimeter fence. To use the facility for HC Polo we will need to temporarily disconnect one side of the net and wrap it around the opposing post for safe keeping. When we are finished with our games we will reinstall the net. With regard to the tennis net, from our observations of the facility it would only require a wrench to remove the net and reinstall it and because our group is comprised of mechanically inclined cyclists this task would not be any trouble and you can rest assured that when we are done with our nightly play the net will be reinstalled correctly. If we get approval to use the facility the city will know that there is a group concerned and vested in maintaining the facility.

The following are items our group needs addressed for our group to be able to use the facility for HC Polo: the approval from the parks department and we need the lights around the court to remain on until 11PM on Tuesday nights if possible.

We appreciate you taking the time to review our request to use the facility as an alternate use. Some other points we would like to reiterate or bring to your attention are that the people that make up our group of Hardcourt Bike Polo players consist of people that are upstanding, hardworking, professionals, with families. Through our use of the facility as a Hardcourt Bike Polo Court we will help care for the facility and will continue to be partners in improving the park and making it a place that our families, friends, and the occasional spectator are interested in visiting. We are hopeful that the Salt Lake City Parks Department will see the advantage of allowing our growing group of bicycle enthusiast to use the facility and assist our group in giving people another reason to visit Pioneer Park.

Thanks,
Beehive Bike Polo Club
Chuck Heaton Cell# ########## or ##############.com
Stefano Foresti Cell# ########## or ##############.com
On behalf of the other B.B.P.C. polo players

Refusal Letter
Mr. Heaton,

There are a number of items that have to be considered. Tennis courts have a surface applied to them that is not resilient to withstand the activity of bikes or being struck or scuffed with mallets. Tennis courts in Salt Lake City cannot be reserved and have to remain available for open public play. Our policy is facilities should be used for the activities that they were designed for and not for activities that would damage them.

I have spend some time reviewing your request and doing some research regarding the activity of bike polo and after this review I am denying your request to use tennis courts for bike polo.

*** ****
Parks Director
Salt Lake City

If you have made it this far see my attached peply comment.