Concerns about noise from pickleball courts has forced one community, Crescent Lakes near Boca Raton, to abandon plans for new courts and another community, Polo Trace near Delray Beach, to put a pickleball expansion project on hold after a lawsuit challenged it.
Pickleball’s explosive growth continues fueling conflict in Palm Beach County neighborhoods, where homeowners are suing their associations, organizing recalls and battling over plans to expand courts near their homes.
At Crescent Lakes, Monika Mazgal said she found herself in a David-vs.-Goliath situation when she took on the HOA there. The board had approved plans a year ago to convert clay-type tennis courts into pickleball courts, which were within 10 feet of her home. She collected
more than 100 signatures on petitions opposing the plan.
After the board ignored her pleas, she started a recall movement.
Eventually, the board members targeted by her petition resigned from their posts and, recently, the board reported that there will be no pickleball at Crescent Lakes, a gated community of 268 homes. Instead, two clay courts will be converted into an asphalt surface to curtail costly maintenance expenses.
Mazgal credited an initial story by The Palm Beach Post story for the change in the board's position. The board recently emailed the following statement to residents:
“Due to continued concerns, significant opposition, and increasingly contentious communications, the Board has decided to halt the proposed multi-court project in its current form," the statement said. "The existing two tennis courts will be converted from clay to asphalt. New fencing and lighting will not be included.”
Litigation clouds future of pickleball growth at Polo Trace in Delray Beach
At Polo Trace, plans call for adding two pickleball courts to the four already built, which will require the removal of one tennis court. A lawsuit filed in May seeks not only to block the expansion but also to halt all pickleball play, alleging the noise constitutes a nuisance.
Some of the single-family homes at Polo Trace are within 100 feet of the pickleball courts. The board there recently reported to residents that "the pending litigation may affect the anticipated timeline for the conversion project."
Homeowners say the sport's distinctive "pop" disrupts their quality of life, while HOAs say they are responding to overwhelming demand for courts to accommodate what has been described as America's fastest-growing sport.
The first pickleball-noise lawsuit in the county, reported this year by The Post, involved Parkside at Boca Trail in Boca Raton.
Richard Kitt, the plaintiff, lives about 70 feet from the courts. He said the sound is so intrusive that “it is like they are playing in my kitchen.” According to court filings, the Parkside HOA’s own acoustical study found pickleball noise exceeded Boca Raton’s daytime limits.
The Parkside lawsuit is expected to go to trial in September.
While the homeowner association at Parkside has declined to comment on the lawsuit filed against it, the HOA claims in court filings that it is permitted to change the makeup of its recreation center. The complaint notes that residents were aware of that when they purchased homes adjacent to the recreation complex, and that someday its makeup could change. The HOA is simply responding to the demand for pickleball play, the HOA said.
How noisy can pickleball be?
The Mor-Sports Group, based in Estero, builds pickleball courts across the state. On its website, though, it warns HOAs to be aware of “the science behind pickleball noise” to protect their communities from costly disputes.
“The noise difference between pickleball and tennis isn’t subjective,” said the company on its website.
Pickleball generates about 70 decibels compared to tennis at 40-45, making it significantly louder than the sport it’s often replacing on community courts, the company added.
Mike Diamond is a journalist atThe Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Pickleball noise fight stops one project, stalls another | Exclusive
