RIVERSIDE — Property owners in Riverside say flooding has worsened since a business started building.
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Rebecca Howard said her family has owned her property in Riverside for generations. When it would rain heavily, there would be a “little bit of flooding” that would usually drain within a few days, but when crews broke ground on Black Barn Pickleball in 2024, the flooding got worse.
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“I personally have reached out to the city. We’ve spoken with people on a regular basis for over two years,” Howard told News Center 7.
A view from Sky7 shows just how much water has taken over several properties, including Howard’s.
She told News Center 7’s Xavier Hershovitz that she had to relocate her son’s graduation party, her neighbors can’t let their dogs out, and her parents have had to give up on their garden.
“We’re not trying to cause a fight, we’re not trying to say bad things, we just want it taken care of,” she said.
News Center 7 spoke with Michael Bettencourt, co-founder of Black Barn Pickleball.
“It’s just unfortunate that we’ve had the fourth wettest May on history in Dayton right now,” he said.
Bettencourt said the area is known to flood, and the record rainfall for May has come as they’re trying to get this solved.
“I understand the frustration of the timeline. I share the same frustration of the timeline. It’s taken way longer than I would have hoped and expected,” he said.
He said their original design didn’t work the wya engineers had calculated. They came up with another plan, but it involved Howard’s family property. That was something they weren’t comfortable with, so they settled on a pump system.
“It took a lot more time to design, order the custom pumps, and then we had a really wet winter and spring, and it took a while to install it,” Bettencourt explained.
Now, an electrician is set to be there on Friday to find a way to get the pump up and running.
“I would hope that it would be (running by) Tuesday or Wednesday next week,” he added.
News Center 7 reached out to the City of Riverside about the issue. A spokesperson sent us the following response:
“Black Barn Pickleball received site plan approval from the Planning Commission after a public hearing on October 21, 2024, and construction began during the winter of 2024–2025. During spring 2025, while work was underway on the stormwater infiltration pond, the project team encountered unforeseen site conditions that affected how the original system performed in comparison to engineering projections. In response, the ownership and engineering team collaborated on a revised and more comprehensive stormwater management solution designed to better meet the needs of the property.
Black Barn Pickleball opened for a soft launch on August 25, 2025, followed by its grand opening on November 15, 2025. Construction on the updated stormwater system remains in progress and is expected to be completed and fully operational in the near future."
News Center 7 followed up on the “unforeseen site conditions” crews ran into, as well as accusations that the permits were not done timely or thorough manner. The spokesperson responded with the following statement:
“This area has experienced documented flooding issues for decades, and the surrounding homes have been significantly impacted over that time. Soil boring samples were conducted by Black Barn’s stormwater engineer with the findings indicating that the proposed stormwater management plan would be sufficient. However, once construction and excavation began, site conditions revealed soil inconsistencies that were not identified in the initial sample analysis. As a result, Black Barn Pickleball’s engineer redesigned the project to incorporate a more comprehensive stormwater management solution.
All permits through the City of Riverside were submitted and approved in a timely manner."
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