WATCH: The latest news updates on DPTV with Molly Hughes

Volleyball players who use Denver’s Washington Park can expect some new rules this summer, but they won’t have to get a permit to set up a net.

The Denver Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Thursday unanimously recommended a new policy that would limit the space where games like volleyball would be permitted but eliminate the need for most permits.

Denver Parks and Recreation manager Lauri Dannemiller has to sign the policy before it becomes official. The policy would be in place between April 1 and Sept. 30.

A “passive use area” would likely be staked off on weekends, according to department spokesman Jeff Green. The area would be in the park’s popular meadow area where most volleyball and soccer games take place. Volleyball nets and other games would not be limited in other parts of the park.

Last summer, the department enacted a temporary directive requiring all weekend volleyballers to get a “drop-in” permit to set up a net. The permit didn’t cost anything, but users had to pay a refundable deposit. Fifty permits at a time were available.

“It was temporary by design — we had never done anything like it before,” Green said.

Denver Parks and Recreation had been working with a stakeholder group made up of staff, members of some nearby neighborhood organizations and a volleyball group since last summer to discuss possibilities moving forward.

Volleyball of the Rockies owner Tom Davenport was on that committee and said the end result should be a good one.

“The city is growing and Parks and Rec had to make some moves to manage use and to protect the asset for all of us,” Davenport said.

Prior to last summer, Washington Park had been the source of many complaints from neighbors about overcrowding, parking problems and alcohol abuse in the park, leading Councilman Chris Nevitt to suggest an alcohol ban in the park.

The ban didn’t happen, but Denver Parks and Recreation did clamp down on alcohol use in the park. Only 3.2 percent beer is allowed.

Volleyball was also at the center of the complaints as some park users noted the sea of nets on the meadow.

“Volleyball had grown in such a way, a number of other users felt park was unavailable to them,” Green said.

Davenport has a permit to run some league play at the park on weeknights. He said that Denver Parks and Rec enforcing the alcohol rules has helped. He said that while the hardcore players are still coming out, the groups that would set up a net but mainly just drink with friends has been reduced.

Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc