When the city surveyed members about fees at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center last fall, most of the written comments asked for rates to stay the same or go down, "noting the facility's role as a community resource rather than a country club," in the words of the consultant's report. On January 1, 2027, the second half of the fee schedule built from that review takes effect. No member has to do anything. The new rates apply automatically.
The increase isn't the same for everyone. A Full Access adult membership goes up $12 a month. A Full Access family membership goes up $96. A Full Access senior membership stays where it has been since before the review began. Each of those numbers follows from the way the City Council's December 2025 study measured the cost of a member.
One adult, counted twice
On December 3, 2025, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2025-1992 and new fees for the Center at 23400 Park Sorrento, based on a cost-of-service study by Matrix Consulting Group. The study found the Center was recovering 49% of its fee-related costs: $4.51 million in revenue against $9.1 million in baseline costs, a gap of about $4.6 million. The staff report said membership fees made up the largest share of that gap.
To find what a membership actually costs, the study gave each tier a "baseline" monthly cost. For Full Access, one adult costs $135. A couple costs $270, which is exactly two adults. A family costs $337, about two and a half adults.
Under the old rates, households paid nowhere near that multiple. A family paid $142 a month, only $42 more than a single adult's $100. So the adult paid about three-quarters of their own cost, and the family paid about 42% of theirs. The new schedule closes that gap over two years:
| Full Access tier | Before 2026 | 2026 | 2027 | Baseline monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | $100 | $110 | $122 | $135 |
| Couple | $123 | $169 | $230 | $270 |
| Family | $142 | $207 | $303 | $337 |
| Youth | $35 | $53 | $81 | $135 |
| Senior | $73 | $73 | $73 | $135 |
| Senior Couple | $91 | $108 | $130 | $270 |
By 2027, adult and family memberships each cover about 90% of their baseline cost, and couples cover about 85%. For every tier that changes, the bigger step comes in January, and the gap between tiers is wide. A family on Full Access will pay $96 more a month than in 2026, or $1,152 more over the year. A single adult will pay $144 more over the year.
The Fitness Access tier, which covers health and swim only, follows the same math. Family goes from $100 before 2026 to $150 in 2026 to $228 in 2027, against a $253 baseline. Couple goes from $79 to $117 to $172, against $202. Adult goes from $61 to $74 to $91, against $101.
Per-visit fees climb toward the same target
The cost-based approach also covers people who pay at the door. Several 2027 rates now sit close to, or right at, the baseline cost the study calculated:
- Public tennis court, weekdays: $15 an hour before 2026, $20 in 2026, and $27 in 2027. The baseline cost is $27.
- Adult lap swim: $9 a visit before 2026, $14 in 2026, and $22 in 2027, against a baseline of $27.
- Youth lap swim: $3 a visit before 2026, $7 in 2026, and $16 in 2027. That's more than five times the old rate, and still well below the same $27 baseline.
- Family swim: adult visits go from $6 to $8 to $11, and youth visits from $3 to $5 to $8, against a $14 baseline.
- Guest fees for fitness and tennis: $17 on weekdays and $22 on weekends in 2027, up a dollar each from 2026.
The schedule doesn't list a separate pickleball rate. Its court line is labeled "Tennis Court Fee-Public."
The tier that stayed put, and why
The study set a $135 baseline for one senior, the same as any adult, and still left the Full Access senior rate at $73 for both phases. In 2027 that covers about 54% of the cost. The Senior Couple tier rises to $130 against a $270 baseline, which makes it the least cost-recovered membership on the schedule.
That came out of the public process. Matrix's first proposal dropped the Senior Couple tier entirely, so a senior couple would have paid either the regular couple rate or two individual senior rates. At the November 2025 community meetings, participants asked to keep the senior couple rate with enough subsidy to make it worth more than two individual memberships. The revised report adopted that change. The survey comments had also warned that price increases would hit seniors disproportionately and could lead some to cancel.
The two-year phase-in came from the same meetings. About 15 people joined the virtual session on November 19, 2025, and seven came to the in-person workshop on November 22. Participants generally called the existing rates reasonable and asked for any increase to be phased in. When the phased numbers were presented, most of them considered the increases reasonable. The study says the fees reach their cost-recovery targets in year two, 2027.
What the survey asked for, and what has opened since
The online survey drew 268 responses. Forty-eight percent called the existing membership fees affordable, and 72% rated resident access "very important." Asked whether they would pay more for better facilities and services, 17% said yes, 46% said no, and 37% said maybe.
Several written comments said that if fees did rise, the money should go to improvements. The requests named fitness-area improvements, Wi-Fi, repairs to broken equipment, online tennis court reservations, and reopening the snack bar.
This fall the Center added a place to eat. The city scheduled a soft opening for Canyon Café on Friday, October 23, with free samples and 15% off food items. The operator is Giovanni Ortega, a Calabasas resident and Center member who owned and ran a Peruvian restaurant for 20 years. The city lists the café's hours as tentative while it gathers feedback on peak times. The café opens at 7 a.m. every day and stays open until 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 p.m. on Friday, and 6 p.m. on weekends. The Canyon Café page links to a menu and a feedback survey.
Those closing times match the Center's regular hours, which resumed October 5 after a stretch of temporary hours: 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Where $303 sits against the private clubs
The study also compared six private clubs: Calabasas Pickleball Club, Gerrish Swim & Tennis Club, The Griffin Club, Lake Lindero, Manhattan Beach Country Club, and The Paseo Club. Monthly membership fees ranged from $99 at Gerrish, for a courts-and-pools-only membership, to $955 at Manhattan Beach Country Club. Every club surveyed required an initial fee, from $125 for a junior member at The Paseo Club to $25,000 for a household at Manhattan Beach Country Club. None offered a senior rate.
The study noted that the Center charges no initiation fee. The approved schedule lists one rate per membership tier, with no separate residency prices. Both Full Access and Fitness Access plans are open to residents and non-residents, and non-members can still pay a daily fee for the courts, the pool, and fitness classes. The facility was built as a private club in 1969, and the city bought it in 1994. It has 16 lighted hard courts and a heated Junior Olympic-size pool. Even after January, the family rate is less than a third of the top monthly rate in the study's comparison, and there's nothing to pay up front.
The full approved fee schedule is posted on the city's website. It covers the membership tiers above along with facility rentals and swim packages. The Matrix study, survey results, and staff report are in the December 3, 2025 City Council packet.
At Malibu Premier Homes, we watch how decisions like this one shape everyday life in Calabasas, from a family's monthly budget to where neighbors grab a coffee after tennis. If you'd like to talk about life near Park Sorrento or anywhere else in Calabasas, Gina and Stacey are happy to hear from you. Contact Us.
