With hopes of preventing neighborhood conflicts over pickleball noise, the Centennial City Council approved new rules on how close outdoor courts can be to homes.

New permanent outdoor pickleball courts are now prohibited within 250 feet of homes.

Temporary outdoor pickleball courts, on the other hand, are prohibited within 350 feet of homes. 

One of the main concerns about pickleball noise is the popping sound of the hard plastic ball hitting the paddles, which is called an “impulsive sound,” according to the city’s noise study.  

During a roughly five-hour meeting on Sept. 19, about 19 residents spoke either for or against the proposed regulations. 

The council ultimately voted unanimously to set a variety of rules for outdoor pickleball courts. 

Despite the vote being unanimous, several council members voiced concerns with the regulations. 

However, the council felt pressure to pass regulations Sept. 19 because the city’s pickleball moratorium — which paused some pickleball court developments in the city — is set to expire at the end of the month. 

City Attorney Bob Widner said that if nothing was done and the moratorium expired, the city may be in a position where it “could get courts a foot off of somebody’s property line, and there’s no standard for noise, and they can continue to operate and we’re gonna get flooded with complaints.” 

“Whenever these situations have come up, there’s been lawsuits, there’s been huge pushback,” Widner said. “And we’re trying to avoid that conflict, right? That’s why we did the moratorium.” 

Councilmember Don Sheehan said he disagrees with making the setback for permanent outdoor pickleball courts 250 feet, but he thinks it is important the council passes the ordinance and later revises it. 

“We need to pass this because we have no other choice,” he said. “We have a moratorium that is expiring, and we have nothing on the books that will do anything to stop the noise that’s going to impact our citizens. 

“So, reluctantly, I will vote yes,” he said. 

Several council members noted that the new ordinance is not perfect and can be changed in the future. 

“This is the first shot that we’re doing,” said Mayor Pro Tem Richard Holt. “I think we’re one of the first municipalities to tackle this issue, and, you know, version 1.0 probably won’t be perfect.”

Mayor Stephanie Piko said the point of passing something Sept. 19 is to allow for protection of residents’ property. 

“And, if you will, buy us more time in order to further examine, to further meet with HOAs (homeowners associations) … to further understand exactly what that implementation looks like,” Piko said. 

She said that everyone is interested in finding a happy medium when it comes to the outdoor pickleball court rules. 

“But it might take us more than one pass at this to do that,” she said. 

With the council’s approval, the new rules became effective immediately and the city’s pickleball moratorium was automatically terminated. 

The new rules

As part of the new ordinance, the council approved general requirements for all outdoor pickleball courts within 600 feet of residential areas. 

One rule is that the courts must limit their hours of operation from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Another rule is that the courts cannot produce sound above a 47-decibel level at the nearest residential property line.

Other regulations vary depending on if the outdoor pickleball court is temporary or permanent. 

Jess Lacambra, a city planner, said a permanent court has lines or markings that are either permanent, such as painted lines, or markings that are easily removable but are not removed from the court on a daily basis. 

A temporary court is defined as having lines or markings that are easily removable and are completely removed on a daily basis.

Under the new regulations, new permanent outdoor pickleball courts are prohibited within 250 feet of residential zoning.

Permanent outdoor pickleball courts between 250-600 feet from residential areas may be permitted with a city-issued permit. A noise impact assessment will be required to determine if a noise abatement plan and mitigation are needed. 

Outdoor permanent courts that are 600 feet or more from residential areas are permitted without a permit and do not need a noise impact assessment or noise mitigation.

The rules for temporary outdoor pickleball courts are different, as they are prohibited within 350 feet of residential areas. 

Per the city staff report, a more strict setback was applied to temporary courts because, in most cases, courts that are within 350 feet of residential properties require noise abatement. However, noise mitigation infrastructure would not exist at locations where temporary courts would most likely exist, the report said. 

Temporary courts that are 350-600 feet from residential areas are allowed without a permit and do not need a noise impact assessment, but they do still have to follow the hours of operation rules and cannot produce sound above a 47-decibel level at the nearest residential property line. 

“Greater than 600 feet — they are allowed and not required to meet any of those outdoor pickleball standards,” Lacambra said.

Debating setback distance

One of the deliberations the council had was what the setback should be for permanent outdoor pickleball courts. 

Originally, city staff proposed that permanent outdoor pickleball courts be prohibited within 100 feet of residential areas. 

Lance Willis, a noise consultant the city hired, told the council that if an outdoor pickleball court is 100 feet away from a residential area, achieving a maximum 47-decibel level at the nearest residential property line is unlikely even with noise mitigation.

Councilmember Candace Moon said she preferred the setback be 350 feet for permanent outdoor pickleball courts, as that was something several community members asked for. 

However, Mayor Pro Tem Holt said he thinks making 350 feet the setback would result in most homeowners associations not being able to build a court. 

Ultimately, the city council decided to amend the proposed regulations and increase the setback to 250 feet. 

What about pre-existing courts?

In the city staff report, it says there are a small number of existing outdoor permanent courts that are within 600 feet of residential areas. 

Those existing courts are not required to apply for a permit nor provide a noise impact assessment, but they do have to be in compliance with the other requirements for permanent outdoor pickleball courts.

If it is demonstrated that these courts are not compliant with the standards, then they will have to go through the complete permitting process, per the report.

Widner, the city attorney, said the reason for the exception is because the city has had few complaints about these courts that are currently operating. 

“So, why not let them continue until such time they’re a problem?” he said. 

“We do know that those courts will unlikely meet a 47 (decibel) standard because they’re unmitigated,” he continued. “But we’re going to let them go until such time that we have credible evidence that they’re not meeting the 47 (decibel standard) or they stop operating 8 (a.m.) to 8 (p.m.).”

Why did the city make regulations?

Pickleball noise has led to conflicts in communities across the nation — including Colorado. 

As reported by CBS Colorado, plans to install and expand pickleball courts at Congress Park and Sloan’s Lake Park were canceled due to noise concerns. 

Hoping to prevent such conflicts in Centennial, in March, the city council passed a six-month moratorium on the acceptance or processing of new applications or approvals for permanent outdoor pickleball courts within 500 feet of residential uses. 

The moratorium intended to give the city time to research and evaluate potential noise mitigation requirements for pickleball courts, per the city’s staff memo.     

As part of this effort, the city hired a noise consultant who conducted a noise study for the city.

According to that study, pickleball is not acoustically equivalent to sports like tennis or volleyball. 

The main concern for residents living close to pickleball courts is the “popping” sound of the hard plastic ball hitting the paddles, per the study. 

This type of sound is classified as an “impulsive sound.” 

Persistent impulsive sounds 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 explained.  

“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.”

The most important factor to consider when selecting a site for pickleball courts is the distance to adjacent residential areas, according to the study.

Those interested in viewing the full city council meeting on Sept. 19 can visit bit.ly/pick0919.