Pickleball could be gone for good in a California town if pending legislation is passed to move from a current temporary ban implemented over noise complaints to a permanent one.
The council of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, located roughly 120 miles south of San Francisco, initially implemented a temporary ban last month following the noise complaints, and then voted unanimously to extend the ban at the town’s public park, according to the SFGate news site.
Prior to settling on a permanent ban, some council members did try to explore the possibility of alternatives, including finding different pickleball equipment that could deaden the racket-caused racket that irked other Carmel-by-the-Sea residents.
Ultimately, the council decided to be rid of the issue and to have legislation drafted that would create a permanent ban.
Councilmember Bob Delves said that “pickleball has created a distraction for the five of us and for the city and expended resources, and we need to just stop,” according to the local Carmel Pine Cone newspaper.
Councilmember Alissandra Dramov concurred, saying that “I feel like we’re trying too hard to create a compromise … I think there are just too many concerns … Leave the ordinance in place and accept that [Carmel’s public park] is not a good location for pickleball,” according to the Carmel Pine Cone.
Pickleball proponent Barbara Lang told the council that while she no longer played at the park, “if you want to try it with the quiet ball, I think it’s only fair to the players to give that a chance,” according to SFGate.
Local residents opposed to pickleball said that enforcing compromise rules aimed at reducing pickleball noise would be too difficult.
“There’s gonna be a problem. These aren’t supervised courts. … there’s no parks and rec department. … Who’s going to enforce this? … Is a police officer going to have to be, you know, sitting there on these courts, supervising them? … It’s an unrealistic proposition,” Kimberly Edwards told the council, according to SFGate.
Some players are also against the idea of a compromise on equipment.
Player Jennifer Dentici told KSBW-TV that “The real issue is, is that playing with those librarian balls, it’s a different ball. It’s a different sport.”
Carmel-by-the-Sea Mayor Dale Byrne said that the issue was not decided one way or the other for good yet, and mulled the idea of installing “pickleball glass” around the court where the game used to be played as an alternative sound mitigation measure, the Pine Cone reported.
Pickleball proponents will have chances to make the case to keep pickleball alive and to stop Carmel from being the first California town to ban it outright.
There are at least two more hearings to come on the subject, and another 30 days after those for any permanent ban ordinance to go into effect, according to the Pine Cone.
