Lower Southampton Township
Lower Southampton’s zoning map labels three of its residential districts by square footage: 9,000, 12,000 and 20,000. A tennis court with room to run around it covers 7,200 square feet. Here, court plans start with a tape measure.
Local courts
Run the numbers on your own lot first. A full tennis court, 60 by 120 feet, would cover 80 percent of a 9,000-square-foot lot and 36 percent of a 20,000-square-foot one. A pickleball court with the overrun space one coating maker recommends takes 30 by 60 feet, a quarter of that. So a tennis court here is a big piece of pavement to give up, and it can carry more than tennis. On a court like that, we take on crack repair and leveling, acrylic resurfacing and color, line striping, and pickleball conversions and layouts; any new paving or tear-out goes first.
Until the 2010 census, Feasterville and Trevose were counted as one census-designated place; now they’re two communities, both in Lower Southampton Township, sharing the 19053 ZIP code. The township covers about 6.6 square miles, with County Line Road along its Philadelphia and Montgomery County edge and Upper Southampton, Northampton, Middletown and Bensalem townships around the rest. Trevose crosses Brownsville Road into Bensalem, and we work on both sides of that road. Wherever your court sits, measure it and the space around it before anyone talks about color; calls go to Bill Ferguson, based here in Bucks County.
Local conditions
Lower Southampton’s zoning permit for driveways, patios and accessory structures needs a plot plan showing every structure and impervious surface on the lot, meaning anything built or paved that keeps water from seeping into the ground. Total impervious over lot size gives a percentage, and going past the permitted limit takes Zoning Hearing Board approval. A new court pad is paving, so ask the township before anyone paves.
Lower Southampton asks residents with a street or rear-yard storm drain to keep it free of leaves and grass clippings, and to report anyone pouring paint, chemicals or cleaners into one. Court care touches both. One coating maker’s manual calls for two parts household bleach to one part water on mold and mildew, then a thorough rinse, so find out where your court drains before washing it.
Start here
Lower Southampton’s zoning permits count paving by the square foot. A 60 by 120 foot tennis court is 7,200 square feet already paved. Blended lines add up to two pickleball courts and keep tennis; a dedicated conversion fits four if the corners are square.
Where a tennis court won’t fit a Lower Southampton lot, a pickleball court might. Settle its layout before any paving: 20 by 44 feet in a 30 by 60 foot footprint, north to south, the kitchen (non-volley zone) 7 feet from the net.
If your tennis court’s base is sound, the pavement stays and the top is rebuilt in the usual order: a wash, crack filling, patches, resurfacer, textured color coats to the coating maker’s spec, then fresh lines. None of it adds impervious surface to your lot.
Measure past the lines. A pickleball court is 20 by 44 feet, and one coating maker puts the recommended size with overruns at 30 by 60, or 1,800 square feet. The township’s impervious math adds that to your house, driveway and patio. USTA guidance cites an industry standard of at least 8 feet between a pickleball baseline and any permanent fixture, and USA Pickleball says to run outdoor courts north to south, so players aren’t looking into the sun. Call Bill at 215-251-2984.
Sometimes. USTA guidance for public sites, when dedicated courts aren’t possible, says to look at hard surfaces such as a concrete slab or a multi-sport court, and to check local ordinances. Size comes first: about 30 by 60 feet with overruns. Flatness is next: one coating maker’s spec allows no more than a quarter inch of deviation under a 10-foot straightedge. The same spec wants oil and grease gone and a primer on bare concrete before any color. Move any hoop before that primer goes on.
Count what it can hold first. One 60 by 120 foot court can carry tennis alone, tennis plus two blended pickleball courts, or four dedicated pickleball courts if the corners are square. If the base is sound, resurfacing rebuilds the color, texture and lines on top of it. If cracks keep reopening or sections have sunk, look below the surface: one coating maker says acrylic systems can’t solve a cracked or deteriorating base. To weigh keeping it against a rebuild, call Bill at 215-251-2984.