So our HOA just got a formal complaint from residents near the community pickleball courts about noise. Apparently some people are really bothered by the sound of balls hitting paddles, especially early morning games that start at 7am on weekends. Now theres talk of restricting hours or even removing the courts. This is so frustrating because we just had them built last year. Has anyone dealt with this? How did your community handle it?
6 Comments
This happened at our park too. The fix was installing sound barriers, basically tall vinyl fences around the courts. Cut the noise by like 60% according to the decibel readings they took. Not cheap though, our township spent about $15k on it. But it was way cheaper than losing the courts entirely.
15k is a lot for an HOA to swallow but yeah losing the courts would be worse. did the complaints stop after that?
Mostly yeah. Still get the occasional grumpy neighbor but the formal complaints stopped. Helps that the sound barriers also block wind so players actually like them too lol
Look into foam core paddles and foam balls for early morning play. Some communities have quiet hours where you have to use quieter equipment before 9am. Its a compromise but at least you keep the courts. The Green Zone system from a few paddle companies is specifically designed for noise reduction
document everything. get decibel readings at the property line of the complaining neighbors. in most jurisdictions pickleball courts fall well under noise ordinance limits. if you have data showing youre within legal limits the HOA has less reason to act. also check if there was proper notice and approval when the courts were built because if everyone agreed to it a year ago they cant just reverse course because 2 people are annoyed
Just want to add that in my experience amenities like pickleball courts actually increase property values in communities. If the HOA needs convincing, frame it as a property value argument not just a recreation argument. People respond to money.