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Tennis Courts Are Too Short At Brand New $3.5M Park On Long Island

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Just weeks after a multimillion dollar park opened on Long Island, the tennis courts are closed to the public.

The town admits the courts are the wrong size.

One tennis player was injured at the brand new Huntington town park. It wasn't for a lack of skill but a lack of space.

"You hit a long ball or a deep ball to the baseline and bam -- you smack into the fence," he said.

The courts don't have enough clearance between the baseline and backstop due to an unforced error by town planners.

"If they were my contractors, I would have sued every one of them," the injured player said. "It's so obvious. It's standardized throughout the world, and they couldn't handle it here?"

Outraged taxpayers are now asking whether they'll have to foot the bill for the fix.

"The fact that they could have put all this money here – it's really a beautifully designed park – and not paid attention and had someone who knew what they were doing when they built the tennis court is really crazy," Melville resident Bob Phillips said.

The blunder was first brought to the town supervisor's attention by a Plainview resident who was eager to play at the $3.5 million Sweet Hollow park until he noticed the design flaw.

"Anyone who knows anything about tennis would say that's not enough room to go back there," Ron Landman said. "So if one person made the error, it should have been overseen by other people in the town, especially with the amount of taxpayer money that was used."

The U.S. Tennis Association recommends courts have 21 feet behind the base line. Instead, these courts have nine feet and eight inches, and the sides are two and a half feet short of the recommended 12.

It might be passible in a private backyard, but it's dangerous to the unsuspecting public, according to professional tennis court builder Kevin Healion, with Century Tennis.

"Somebody approved this plan. They didn't check the details or consult a professional tennis court builder," he said.

What now? Adding the needed feet would take out landscaping, walkways, even a portion of the basketball courts.

A town spokesperson said the estimated cost for the changes has not been finalized.

The town admits there was an in-house design error, and says it is being rectified. CBS2 asked whether anyone is being disciplined, but they would not say nor identify who's responsible.

Last week, they urged players to use caution. Now, they've padlocked the courts indefinitely.

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