Mayor to Montclair: No Pickleball for you

Pickleball is popping up everywhere. Parks. Gyms. Retirement communities. Even old tennis courts that are getting repainted for the sport.

But in Montclair, the mayor just basically said… not here.

A nearly $3 million state grant application to renovate Canterbury Park brought out a big crowd at a public hearing a few weeks ago.

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The township made a request for $3 million to upgrade the eight-acre park. This would potentially come from the Green Acres program.

And the plan is really comprehensive. It includes fixing up the playground and walking paths, the basketball courts and benches, and the outdoor fitness equipment. This is really important, especially because things have been starting to look a little shoddy. In particular, kind of the basketball and tennis courts really need help.

Originally, the proposal also included pickleball courts built inside the existing tennis courts. It’s become almost mandatory to include pickleball in your city park plan.

But alas, that idea did not go over well.

Neighbors showed up to complain about the sound. If you’ve ever heard pickleball, you know the noise. That hollow plastic ball hitting the paddle over and over again. Who would’ve thought that such a cute little game would make such an insidious, horrible noise?

Some describe it as Pop. Pop. Pop. But let’s face it. Enough of it begins to sound like bang. bang. bang.

To try to combat it, town engineers said they could install acoustic panels on the fencing to absorb some of the noise. Their estimate was a noise reduction of about 20 DB. But the people living nearby knew better. I live a quarter of mile from some public pickleball courts and in the summertime I can hear it loud and clear.

Mayor Renee Baskerville said pickleball could bring players from outside the neighborhood and create even more parking problems. Green Acres-funded parks have to be open to everyone in New Jersey, so the courts could attract a lot of visitors.

Other council members agreed the location was the problem. A sport can be great and still be the wrong fit for a quiet neighborhood park.

Residents lined up to speak. Many said the constant popping/banging sound would ruin the calm feel of the park. And they won.

In the end, the council moved forward with the grant application, just without pickleball.

So the park upgrades may still happen if the state approves the funding.

But the pickleball courts are officially off the table.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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