Wichita Falls (KFDX/KJTL) — The Wichita Falls Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals voted 6-3 on Wednesday to approve an appeal that will allow the Pickleball Hangar to move forward with a planned expansion without installing a fire suppression system, the board said.
The expansion, according to owner Amanda Chandler, will roughly double the facility. It adds nearly 12,000 square feet and four new courts.
"Our growth in the last three years has probably quadrupled. The word is getting out," Chandler said. "The sport is very popular. We hosted the first competition. So, every year it's just going to get bigger and bigger."
City staff told the board the expansion's size triggered a fire suppression requirement under the adopted building code, according to Fabian Medellin, Director of Development Services. The architect of record disagreed with that interpretation, prompting the appeal.
"A set of plans were submitted in which there was an interpretation that the architect of record didn't agree with," Medellin said. "So, this board, that is their purpose. They serve as a quasi-judicial board. So, they oversee appeals and challenges to interpretations of our adopted building regulatory administrative codes."
The appeal argued that the building's concrete floors and metal walls did not pose the fire risks the code contemplated. Chandler said the facility hosts fundraiser tournaments for local charities and senior classes, and that the additional space would support that programming.
With the board's decision, construction on the expansion can continue without the fire suppression system the city staff had sought.