Pickleball turns Carmel-by-the-Sea into 'madhouse' of ringing thwacks

The constant pop pop pop of the plastic ball was simply too much to take.

- BY HANNAH FRY

GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times

CITY OFFICIALS tried to find ways to allow pickleball while reducing noise, but ultimately chose to ban it.

Kimberly Edwards, who lives near the tennis-turned-pickleball courts at Forest Hill Park in Carmel-by-the-Sea, could hear the resonant sound everywhere she turned — outside in her garden, even through her bedroom window.

"It is very annoying," she told the City Council last month. "And unless you live there, I know it’s not a problem for you, but it’s a problem for me."

After years of resident complaints, Carmel-by-the-Sea recently became the first California city to ban pickleball at public facilities. The sport, which blends elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, has exploded in popularity over the last decade, with many cities building or retrofitting their public courts to accommodate crowds of paddle-packing enthusiasts.

But the sport's astonishing rise has created an unbearable racket for some nearby neighbors.

Pickleball players say there’s a certain satisfaction that comes from the thwack of a well-struck ball. But neighbors don’t always share the same affinity. Battles over the noisy sport have raged across the country for years, prompting some cities to intervene.

In Laguna Beach, city officials adopted an ordinance this year requiring pickleball players to switch to quieter paddles or face a citation. In the Silicon Valley city of Saratoga, officials set aside $100,000 for efforts to tone down the volume at its pickleball courts.

In a lawsuit against Newport Beach in 2016, a Corona del Mar woman claimed the sounds of people playing pickleball 100 yards from her home caused her “severe mental suffering, frustration and anxiety.” The city responded by limiting hours of play and installing sound-dampening materials at the nearby court.