Beach Volleyball Court Aced by City

Threatening to remove an illegal volleyball net and poles on Tuesday, city officials arrived at the court at the end of Ventura’s Pittsfield Lane to find that residents had apparently saved them the trouble of tearing it down.

“We didn’t take it down,” said Terry Murphy, parks supervisor in charge of beaches. “It was gone when we got there this morning.”

Nearby residents had erected the net near Pierpont Beach using massive timber pier pilings that had washed up on the sand after a storm.

Homeowners say they have placed courts there on and off for about a dozen years. But while temporary courts are allowed, permanent ones are not, for safety and liability reasons, Murphy said.

Some residents considered the court a meeting place, said Jeff Dalton, who lives on Pittsfield Lane. Others deemed it a nuisance because of noise and the lack of restrooms, Murphy said.

In any event, the court is gone--at least until the next net goes up, she said.