Pickleball Courts and Zoning

Too often cities are becoming embroiled in raucous public meetings, adverse publicity, and lawsuits due to conflict between pickleball players and residential neighbors.  We will review the rapid growth and genuine benefits of pickleball as a recreation for your city.  We give a brief introduction to acoustic sciences and why this noise is different from tennis and genuinely annoying to the neighbors.  The shortfalls in the typical noise enforcement ordinances are explained, as well as why pickleball noise is so difficult to quantify with a decibel meter.  We will review litigation examples around the county as municipalities defend themselves from poor planning choices.  We discuss the range of costly and difficult after-the-fact mitigation solutions such as noise barrier walls, limiting hours of play, and attempts to mandate quiet equipment.  We review some of the zoning, planning, and permitting ordinances adopted in recent years and since the previous webinar on this subject, as cities learn to avoid a problem that is so difficult to correct once the mistake has been made.

Speakers: Charles Leahy & Kathleen Romito