Amid a moratorium on pickleball, officials in Centennial are narrowing down ways to lessen the impacts of the sport's noise before giving the green light to game play near homes. One factor in their decision could be what a sound expert dubs “impulsive sounds” -- sudden noises that are distracting enough to make it difficult for people to relax and may even result in long-term psychological issues.

"The reason that we’re taking a look at pickleball noise is the long-term impacts of it,” said Neil Marciniak, the city’s director of community and economic development. 

In March, the city council passed a six-month moratorium on new applications or approvals for outdoor pickleball courts within 500 feet of residential uses. 

This month, noise consultant Lance Willis, the principal acoustical engineer of Spendiarian & Willis Acoustics and Noise Control, turned in a study on the issue to the city:  “Pickleball Noise Impact Assessment and Abatement Planning.”

Players compete in a friendly pickleball game on Aug. 24 at the newly-opened outdoor courts in Highlands Ranch at the Westridge Recreation Center.

The study found the main concern for residents who live close to pickleball courts is the “popping” sound the hard plastic ball makes when it is struck by paddles. Those random, persistent sounds, described as "impulsive," can create annoyance because they are “similar to sounds that contain important information about our environment such as footsteps, a door opening, a tap at the window, or speech,” the study said.  

“Continuous false alarms such as the popping sound created by pickleball paddle impacts make it difficult to relax, concentrate, or sleep soundly without disturbance as each time a pop is heard it draws the attention, creating distraction,” the study said. 

The study noted that lower-amplitude sound can have “adverse long term physiological effects.”

Donnie Gallegos (left) and his wife Patty are 4.8 mixed doubles players that play in many of the local and regional pickleball tournaments. Donnie …

Typically, pickleball courts located within 350 feet of residential properties require noise abatement and those that a are closer, within 150 feet, require "extensive" noise dampening, the study said.  Those within 100 feet are not recommended and have “proven to be problematic,” leading to lawsuits, strict limitations on usage and court closures. 

Pickleball courts within 500 feet to 600 feet of “noise sensitive areas” should be reviewed by an acoustical engineer in the site selection phase of the project, the study said. 

“Staff is looking to take a straightforward approach to … pickleball noise abatement by using an appropriate setback distance, limiting hours of operation and monitoring lighting,” Jessica Lacambra, a Centennial city planner, said. 

Lacambra said if newly proposed outdoor, permanent courts could not meet these standards, then the setbacks might be reduced with additional measures and a required noise study from a qualified acoustical engineer. 

Physical noise barriers, hours of operation, lighting rules, the directional orientation of the courts, and the number of courts all are considerations, she added.

Pickleball is played daily at the Apex Center.

Another way to reduce pickleball noise is requiring different equipment, such as a foam ball rather than the typical plastic one. However, regulating the type of pickleball equipment people use would be difficult to enforce, Lacambra said. 

“Another difficult standard to enforce would be speech, whether that be volume or content,” she said. 

A co-ed team plays pickleball during an Apex league match.

Neil Marciniak with the city said there's lots of details still to consider before the city has a plan.

“What … staff is gonna have to settle on and council will have to agree to is: What is that sound level that gives us the most comfort, gives our residents the most protection, and ultimately, hopefully arrives at the fewest noise complaints?” Marciniak said.  

Councilmember Candace Moon said the city needs to be “very careful and equitable in how we craft this ordinance.”

“There’s a lot of choices that can be made as far as how we choose to have an ordinance,” she added. 

City staff is expected to seek additional input from community stakeholders, such as neighborhood groups, parks and recreation districts, and homeowners associations. 

The city previously collected public input through its website, asking for feedback on what level of government regulation of outdoor pickleball courts residents would like to see. Residents can see the comments people shared by visiting: bit.ly/cenpickleball.  

City staff will also assess likely pickleball court locations to evaluate potential noise risks and applicability of the potential regulations. 

According to the city’s website, the public hearings and consideration of regulations is expected to occur around August/September. 

If residents have questions or concerns, the city said it is available via email at centennialplanning@centennialco.gov. Those interested in learning more can visit bit.ly/cenpick.