Fort Lauderdale’s beachfront basketball courts might end up staying right where they are after a fierce outcry has city leaders rethinking a plan to switch them out for pickleball courts.
On Tuesday night, commissioners were expected to approve a controversial proposal to move the basketball courts to another part of the sand. Some mistakenly thought it was a done deal. But after hearing from critics, the commission agreed to delay the vote.
Leo Lorenz, a Fort Lauderdale resident who has helped lead the charge to save the basketball courts, said he considers the deferral of the vote a big win for his side. But no one is letting up, he added.
“We’re going to keep on hitting and pushing until we know it’s set in stone,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We’re not going to let up. It’s not settled. There’s going to be another vote. The city has the power. It’s their land and they can dictate what they want to do.”
Fort Lauderdale has already said yes to a developer’s $2 billion plan to build a five-star resort and four condo towers on city-owned land at Bahia Mar, home of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Developer Jimmy Tate, whose company owns the 100-year lease on Bahia Mar, has teamed up with the Related Group to build the project.
In January 2024, the city made another deal with the developers to convert the basketball courts that sit across from Bahia Mar into two public pickleball courts by January 2027. As part of the deal, the Bahia Mar Community Development District plans to contribute up to $1 million for off-site improvements.
The public didn’t know about the plan to demolish the basketball courts until the city posted a small sign near the courts in late April. That sign sparked an uproar.
Critics have blasted the city on social media and at public commission meetings. More than a dozen critics showed up again on Tuesday.
“I grew up on this beach,” resident Tracy Powell told commissioners. “The basketball courts across from Bahia Mar are part of the fabric that has always been a part of this place. Once those courts are gone, there’s no way to bring them back.”
John Rodstrom III, a lifelong resident whose mother served on the Fort Lauderdale commission and whose father served on the county commission, made his own urgent plea.
“We’re giving a developer who has already gotten so much from our community even more,” he said. “We gave them a public piece of land for almost nothing. And then we gave them the air rights. And now we’re giving them part of the beach. You have the ability to change this contract. Public land, guys. Please just take care of our public land.”
Swayed by the arguments, Mayor Dean Trantalis suggested delaying the decision to give the city time to work with Bahia Mar to come up with a new plan.
“I’m not sure this issue is ripe for a decision tonight,” he said. His next comment prompted applause from the audience: “Let’s just leave the basketball courts where they are.”
Trantalis said he was worried the state might not allow the city to build new pickleball courts east of the coastal construction line.
“Those basketball courts are built east of the coastal construction line. If we tear them up, we have to get the state’s permission to build east of the coastal construction line. That’s always a challenge. We have to have clarity on that before we go anywhere further.”
Commissioner Ben Sorensen quickly agreed.
“I think we need to keep the basketball courts exactly where they are,” he said, prompting more applause.
Commissioner Steve Glassman argued the city could run into legal problems if it failed to comply with the agreement made in 2024.
“I’m just concerned about the timeline on these agreements,” he said. “I’m concerned about pushing things back, back, back. I’m just concerned about any bit of risk we might be facing. The agreement said we have three years (from January 2024) to get all of this done. And now we only have 12 months left.”
Under the agreement, the city possesses the authority to substitute and replace certain improvements based on certain costs, permitting and other factors, City Manager Rickelle Williams told the commission.
“The ‘other factors’ could be public opinion,” Trantalis said, gesturing to the audience. “When the public speaks up we need to listen. There’s an opportunity here to compromise. Let’s see what we can work out. My experience with the developers is that they’re reasonable people. I’m sure we’ll come up with some solution that will work for everybody.”
As the district commissioner, Glassman said he plans to meet with the developer after the holidays.
“I do not want to be putting the city in a legal position that we lose,” he told the Sun Sentinel on Wednesday. “It’s great to just play to the crowd, but we have to rely on facts and we have to be smart. My fear is this goes so far south that we’re going to end up with pickleball and absolutely no basketball. If we push and we lose, we could lose the basketball courts. A lot of people are not considering the consequences here. We could lose the basketball courts. Be careful what you wish for.”
Tate was not at Tuesday night’s meeting, but said he heard about it.
“The intent of the Bahia Mar Community Development District and the intent of the developers is to build community,” Tate said. “We need to better understand why (people don’t like the plan) and we need to come up with a better solution. We’ve always been about building consensus. Like everything, we’re going to find a solution.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan