External Publication

Pickleball facility on Five Mile Line Road tabled as moratorium deadline looms

Webster Ledger June 3, 2026

The Webster Planning Board tabled a proposed indoor-outdoor recreation complex on Five Mile Line Road Tuesday night, leaving the application in limbo two days before a town-wide zoning moratorium is scheduled to take effect.

The project, called Dinks and Links and brought by applicant Joe Cattalani, would put an approximately 39,100-square-foot indoor-outdoor recreation complex on a site on Five Mile Line Road, immediately west of the Lowe's, in the High-Intensity Commercial zone. Cattalani described the planned facility as including pickleball courts, volleyball, mini-golf, and outdoor dining. The public hearing remains open.

Engineering snags and a shifting design

Town engineers flagged unresolved stormwater plan comments, a missing tree-marking requirement for existing vegetation 8 inches or greater in diameter, and an unaddressed fire hydrant spacing discrepancy. The building's location has changed three to four times across design iterations. The Conservation Board, represented by Charlotte Cabili and Dennis Gorlick, requested an updated preliminary plan showing all changes before completing its review.

The site plan flags wetlands on the property, with stormwater draining to Shipbuilders Creek; a DEC stormwater permit is required. DEC had jurisdiction over the wetlands under recently updated state regulations, but an April 8 court ruling annulling those regulations removed that oversight before the board acted Tuesday.

Neighbor opposition

The loudest objections came from neighbors at Sunset Valley, a 55-and-older mobile home community adjacent to the proposed site. Sean Whipple and Christine Whipple, who described themselves as the park's owners, said the park is home to 53 residents. They testified that the plans, as they understood them, would place nine pickleball courts within roughly 50 feet of the park, and that LED lighting would affect the sleep of senior residents. Cattalani put the distance between the courts and the park at approximately 100 feet. Neighbor Mike Ritter suggested planting giant arborvitaes along the property line as an alternative to an acoustic fence, and noted that DEC had originally recommended a northern building placement during its earlier involvement with the site.

Christine Whipple said pickleball noise has become the top noise-litigation issue in the country, though the Ledger has not independently verified that characterization. At the meeting, Cattalani committed to repositioning the volleyball courts he described from the park-adjacent location, swapping them with mini-golf, and cited what he called 311% annual growth in pickleball nationally and an average player age of 33.

Public commenter Mike Baranovich, a pickleball player himself, acknowledged that noise is significant and can be heard from 300 feet away. John La Gambino compared pickleball to past trend-driven businesses and cited 25,000 emergency room visits annually linked to the sport, with 91% of those patients age 50 or older; the Ledger has not independently verified that figure. Diana Davis argued that the application had not met basic preliminary approval standards.

Moratorium timing

Local Law No. 2 of 2026, which the Town Board referred to Monroe County for review in April, is scheduled to take effect June 4 as a town-wide zoning moratorium. During that moratorium, it is possible the zoning for this area will change as a result of an updated Comprehensive Plan. Kevin Lockhart raised the timing concern during public comment. The law includes an administrative relief provision where an applicant may petition the Town Board for an exemption, but the standard is demanding: the applicant must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence, including financial documentation, that the moratorium leaves the property without reasonable use and causes irreparable injury. ( Town's FAQ on the moratorium_)_

The board did not vote on the application. A developer-town review meeting will be scheduled before the hearing resumes.

7 Brew Coffee gets preliminary approval

The board unanimously granted preliminary site plan approval to a 510-square-foot prefabricated double drive-through coffee kiosk proposed by Doug Beachle of Brew Team NY LLC, a 7 Brew Coffee franchisee, at Hard Road. Conditions include a snow management plan, landscaping along Hard Road per Conservation Board recommendations, stormwater connections to the adjacent Popeyes facility, and speaker volume controls on canopy speakers. Lighting must be shielded and dimmable.

Other approvals

RG&E received final site plan approval for modernization of electrical substation 73 at 891 Klem Road. The board had requested a hip roof; RG&E kept its gable design, citing cost and maintenance, and the board accepted the rationale.

A resubdivision of five single-family lots into four at Ridge Road and Bay Road received preliminary approval. The project consolidates two Bay Road properties to resolve lot lines that ran through existing buildings for the past 50 to 60 years. A ZBA appearance is set for next week; final approval is targeted for July.

Michael Julian received unanimous preliminary and final approval, along with an LWRP consistency determination, for a permanent 4-by-50-foot dock at 1060 Sunset Trail on Irondequoit Bay, a Class I state-regulated freshwater wetland, replacing an existing seasonal dock of nearly the same size. The board noted his prior DEC and Army Corps permits as an example to other applicants.

Webster Union Cemetery received preliminary and final approval for an expansion adding 1,740 grave sites at 345 Webster Road.

Sign approvals were granted to Bloom and Blend (790 Ridge Rd, smoothie and acai bowl shop), Lucky X Strike (2400 Empire Blvd, rebrand from Bolero Bowling), JF Jones Jewelers (1170 Ridge Rd), Tempo (807 Ridge Rd, Italian restaurant replacing Nucci's), and Legacy Games (1028 Ridge Rd, board and video game venue in the former Paychex space).