By Rebecca Melnitsky
After almost a year of deliberation, the Village of Roslyn Estates decided to renew its lease with Tennis King, a tennis club located around the corner from Village Hall.
The new five-year lease, approved at Monday’s Board of Trustees meeting, runs from Nov. 1, 2017, to Oct. 31, 2022. It is mostly similar to the old version, with a new provision that Roslyn Estates may repurpose one of Tennis King’s tennis courts as a new recreational area, such as a playground or basketball court. Any such change would be accompanied by a negotiated reduction in the rent Tennis King pays to the village.
In addition, the new lease requires about $10,000 in capital improvements to the Tennis King facilities. There are planned repairs to the drainage, windscreens and fences, Mark Johns, the owner of Tennis King, said.
The original five-year lease ended late last year.
“It went perfect,” Johns said of the decision. “Everything was agreed on. It finally got done. It took 11 months to get it done, [and] two mayors. I’m delighted.”
The village board approved the lease in a 4-1 vote. Afterwards, residents who came to show their support applauded.
Trustee Brett Auerbach voted against renewing the lease, saying he “would like to see the entire area cleaned up significantly.”
“I think it needs a big improvement to match what’s going on in the rest of the village,” Auerbach said. “I think your membership is predominantly more outside the village, and I would want to see some sort of plan on how you would get more village residents involved.”
About 20 percent of Tennis King’s 120 members are Roslyn Estates residents.
Mayor Paul Peters said he wanted to hold a meeting to find out what kind of recreational facility residents would like to see on the grounds of Tennis King’s court seven, noting that a proposal would take “considerable work.”
“It could require a significant expenditure,” Peters said. “A basketball court could be $100,000 [to] $150,000. And a park was up to $250,000 to $1 million. These things all have to be discussed. But if the village would like us to proceed to explore that, we would.”
Trustee Allan Mendels said that a future village meeting should include a discussion of potential recreational facilities and pocket parks in all areas of Roslyn Estates.
It was also suggested that the village include a provision in the new lease that Tennis King close early during parties and events in the adjacent parking lot to avoid cars driving through.
Village Attorney Chris Prior said such a requirement could be difficult to define and that a party could be held on one side of the parking lot.
