Pickleball noise lawsuits are producing real results for neighbors across the country: cities have permanently closed courts in Boise and Falmouth, a Kansas country club settled with its own town’s mayor, and active nuisance cases are moving through courts in Colorado, Rhode Island, and Florida. Plaintiffs who can show that noise exceeds local limits and that courts sit close to homes have been winning injunctions, settlements, or outright shutdowns.
Why the Sport Generates Nuisance Claims Others Don’t
The sound is the whole case. A hard polymer paddle striking a perforated plastic ball produces what acousticians call impulse noise, registering at roughly 1,000 to 1,200 hertz — the same frequency as a vehicle backup alarm.1Acoustical Society of America. Pickleball Noise Raises Health Concerns for Neighbors Living Near Courts Higher-pitched sounds are perceived as louder than lower-pitched ones at the same decibel level, so a 60-decibel pop can feel as loud as an 80-decibel rumble.2South Seattle Emerald. Pickleball Noise Pollution and the Science Behind It
The repetition matters as much as the pitch. One study documented up to 2,800 pops per hour across four courts, with neighbors exposed for more than 90 hours per week.1Acoustical Society of America. Pickleball Noise Raises Health Concerns for Neighbors Living Near Courts A noise-impact assessment for Centennial, Colorado found that the EPA’s 55-decibel annoyance threshold extends roughly 500 feet in front of and behind a court and 260 feet to the sides.2South Seattle Emerald. Pickleball Noise Pollution and the Science Behind It Researchers who study the issue advise against placing courts within 100 feet of homes and say they are unaware of any courts that, once closed, have been successfully quieted enough to reopen.
Those acoustic facts explain why existing noise ordinances, written mostly for industrial equipment or amplified music, don’t capture the problem. They also explain why plaintiffs keep winning.
Cases Neighbors Have Already Won
Boise, Idaho: Two Parks Closed Permanently
Patrick Dougherty and Kathleen Romito had been complaining to the City of Boise about pickleball noise at the Willow Lane Athletic Complex since 2020.3BoiseDev. Pickleball Closure Lawsuit They described the sound as a “continuous, random auditory assault” and cited vulgar language from late-night players. Their tort claim sought an injunction and $1.6 million in damages for mental distress.4Boise State Public Radio. Pickleball Boise Park Suit Lawsuit Noise
In late August 2025, rather than defend the suit, the city settled. It paid the couple $7,000 and committed to reconverting the six Willow Lane pickleball courts into two tennis courts. Both Willow Lane and Manitou Park were locked and restricted to tennis league play to prevent “unauthorized access by pickleball players.”3BoiseDev. Pickleball Closure Lawsuit The city said that after reviewing the Willow Lane litigation it had reassessed other facilities and determined Manitou Park was “no longer a suitable site for pickleball” given noise, usage, and proximity to homes.5Idaho Statesman. Boise Pickleball Court Settlement The cash payout was small, but the plaintiffs got the shutdown they wanted.
Falmouth, Massachusetts: A Permanent Ban
Six neighbors of the Lawrence School courts, led by Robert and Stephanie Mastroianni, sued the Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals in Barnstable Superior Court after two years of unsuccessful requests for restricted hours or a sound barrier. In October 2022, Judge Gregg Pasquale granted a preliminary injunction halting all play “until further order of the court.”6Cape Cod Times. Divided Pickleball Noise Looking Compromise Falmouth
Mastroianni v. Falmouth ZBA was resolved on May 6, 2024. Under the settlement, the town removed all pickleball lines from the Lawrence School courts and posted warning signs. Anyone playing pickleball at that location is now considered to be trespassing. Tennis was permitted to resume once the markings were gone.7Cape News. Settlement Agreement Forbids Pickleball Play at Lawrence School It may be the most definitive judicial outcome yet in a pickleball noise case.
Mission Woods, Kansas: Mayor v. Country Club
In May 2022, Mission Woods Mayor Darrell Franklin and his wife Laurie sued the Mission Hills Country Club over noise from converted pickleball courts. The case, No. 22CV02286, was headed for a jury trial scheduled to begin May 15, 2023. It was dismissed one day later through a joint stipulation. Attorneys for both sides declined to comment, and the terms were not disclosed.8Johnson County Post. Mission Hills Pickleball Lawsuit Settled
Cases Still Pending
Lone Tree, Colorado: An Appellate Test
Five neighbors in the Montecito at RidgeGate community filed a public nuisance suit on June 27, 2024 against the South Suburban Park and Recreation Department over six pickleball courts that opened in Lone Tree in 2023. A district judge denied the government’s motion to dismiss in October 2024, and the recreation department appealed. The question before the Colorado Court of Appeals is whether a public nuisance claim against a government entity for noise constitutes a tort shielded by sovereign immunity under the Colorado Government Immunity Act. The plaintiffs argue the state’s separate Noise Abatement Act gives citizens an independent right to sue. A motion for preliminary injunction is stayed pending the appeal.9Courthouse News. Colorado Appeals Court Parses a Pickle of a Noise Complaint The ruling could produce the first significant appellate precedent on pickleball-specific nuisance liability.
Newport, Rhode Island: Hunter Park
In February 2024, Mona Barberas and Warren Garner filed a 19-page complaint in Newport County Superior Court alleging that pickleball at Hunter Park constitutes both a public and private nuisance. A commissioned sound study found noise at their property spiking to between 55 and 75 decibels against a background of 35 to 40 decibels. The courts sit 11 feet from their property’s fence line.10Newport This Week. City of Newport Sued Over Pickleball Noise The city council passed an ordinance reducing permitted hours, but the plaintiffs called it “grossly inadequate.” Hearings were held in summer and fall of 2024, with a third set for December 2024. The city has declined to comment on active litigation.11Newport This Week. Hearing Set in Newport Pickleball Lawsuit
Boca Raton, Florida: HOA Noise Exceeds Code
In the Parkside at Boca Trail community, Joseph and Ivy Sullivan along with Drs. Richard and Marci Kitt sued their HOA in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. They allege the association converted tennis courts to pickleball in 2021 without the two-thirds membership vote the governing documents require. A $3,800 acoustical study commissioned by the HOA itself confirmed noise levels of 73 decibels at nearby homes, exceeding the city’s 55-decibel nuisance threshold. The homes sit 67 to 72 feet from the courts.12Palm Beach Post. Pickleball Noise Near Homeowners Spurs Lawsuit in Palm Beach County The plaintiffs seek an injunction to close the courts and restore them to tennis. The association has countersued the Sullivans over allegedly unauthorized fencing on common property. The case remains active, with a filing logged as recently as May 2026.13TAPinto Boca Raton. Pickleball Noise Dispute Heads to Court in Boca Raton Community Lawsuit
Apollo Beach, Florida: Another HOA Conversion
In August 2025, ten homeowners in the Andalucía community filed suit in Hillsborough County Circuit Court against the Andalucía Master Association. They allege the HOA approved converting clay tennis courts to pickleball without a community-wide vote, causing unbearable noise, reduced property values, and health risks. They are seeking to permanently block the project and restore the tennis courts.14Fox 13 News. Hillsborough County May Pause New Pickleball Courts Neighbors Sue Over Nonstop Noise
Carlsbad, California: Health Damages
Jaye Gleyzal, a resident of the Sea Cliff gated community, sued her HOA seeking $300,000 in damages and a ban on pickleball at the community’s tennis courts. She alleged the noise caused splitting headaches and elevated blood pressure. Mediation had failed before she filed.15KPBS. Homeowners Are Increasingly Taking Legal Action Over Pickleball Noise The outcome has not been publicly reported.
The HOA Procedural Angle
A growing subset of HOA cases pairs the noise claim with a procedural one: that the board converted tennis courts without the membership vote required by the governing documents. The Boca Raton and Apollo Beach lawsuits both make this argument. If plaintiffs win on that theory, the courts come out regardless of how the noise question is decided. It gives neighbors a second route to the same result and may explain why HOA defendants are increasingly motivated to settle.
What Plaintiffs Ask For, and When They Get It
Most pickleball noise lawsuits rely on nuisance theories: public nuisance against municipalities that host courts, private nuisance against HOAs or clubs that install them. Plaintiffs typically ask for two things: an injunction shutting down the courts and monetary damages for diminished property value or emotional distress.16Acoustical Society of America. Preliminary Analysis of 79 Pickleball Noise Reports The money is usually small or undisclosed; the shutdown is the real prize.
No appellate court has yet issued a definitive ruling on pickleball-specific nuisance liability, which is why the Colorado appeal matters.9Courthouse News. Colorado Appeals Court Parses a Pickle of a Noise Complaint At the trial-court level and in settlements, the pattern is consistent. When neighbors can show that noise exceeds local code limits and that courts sit close to their homes, they tend to prevail, whether through a negotiated closure, a court order, or an HOA agreeing to halt play.