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1 <br />Angela Ely <br />From:Kate Van Gent <katevangent@yahoo.com> <br />Sent:Wednesday, January 17, 2024 4:22 PM <br />To:DL-Council <br />Subject:[EXTERNAL] A Riverfront pickleball facility will grow the local economy <br />CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you  <br />recognize the sender and know the content is safe.  <br />  <br />My name is Kate Van Gent. I live in Mill Creek and am the Vice President of the Seattle Metro <br />Pickleball Association, a 700-member association serving the Seattle Metro Area, including north <br />Snohomish County. <br />I support the developer’s request to construct a privately-owned pickleball complex in Everett at the <br />Riverfront development. This request does not replace the movie theater, it simply reserves its <br />construction for a future phase of the development. Eric Evans, director of development at Shelter <br />Holdings, stated that the industry needs time to recover from the impact of Covid. Statistics indicate <br />we are not out of the woods yet. Covid is once again on the rise again in Snohomish County. <br />Pickleball is a sport less impacted by Covid because people can play and remain socially distanced. <br />In addition, Evans stated that people want “interactive and immersive” recreation. Record <br />high interest rates and Covid create increased risk for this developer, and since they are <br />taking on the risks associated with the development, they should be permitted to alter the <br />plan accordingly. Again, the developer’s plan is not to do away with the movie theater, but <br />to push its construction to a later phase. <br />Pickleball isn’t just the fastest growing sport, it’s the state sport. The effort to make <br />pickleball the state sport was a grass roots effort which started in Snohomish County in <br />Mill Creek. It was supported by Snohomish County residents, folks who will stand before <br />you to speak at the city council meeting. <br />Governor Inslee, Senator John Lovick, Chuck Wright, USA Pickleball’s Stu Upson and I <br />signed honorary pickleball paddles marking the event on March 28th, 2022. Snohomish <br />County residents like MEPC’s Rick Bomar and Nancy Purcell continue to lead the way in <br />making an impact. <br />And you will continue to see pickleball mentioned in 2024. Senate bill 5333 is making its <br />way through the state legislature as I write this and will create a state sport license plate. <br />You will see these plates on cars driving through Snohomish County and Washington <br />State, so get ready. <br />A few words about the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association - we advocate for more courts <br />and more play. SMPA is also a community advocate, with many types of outreach <br />programs and event involvement. SMPA supports other pickleball clubs like the Mukilteo