York pickleball club stalled on plans to expand: Noise remains issue

YORK, Maine — The York Paddle Tennis and Pickleball Club is reconsidering its push to expand its growing club’s facilities, frustrated by almost four years of opposition before the town's Planning Board.

The project started as a pitch for two new pickleball courts in 2021, as well as parking, new spectator areas and expanding the clubhouse for a future bathroom. Pickleball, known as the fastest-growing sport in America, had helped their club grow from dozens to hundreds of members since four courts were added in 2020.

The new pickleball courts have since been nixed from the proposed expansion in the face of backlash from neighbors over the sound of plastic balls constantly being struck and bouncing. The club remained at odds Thursday, March 28, with the Planning Board over whether it had done enough to prove its plan would mitigate sound.

After Planning Board members asked the club Thursday to build a sound barrier before approval is granted, York Paddle Tennis and Pickleball Club past president Chip Coupal said they were being asked to do too much. He said a barrier would cost at least $10,000, and that spending that amount without a guarantee of approval may not be worth it.

“We haven’t decided yet quite whether or not we’re going to do it,” Coupal said after Thursday’s meeting.

The board was advised to reject the application without prejudice by their peer review consultant Chris Di Matteo because the club had not provided what the town asked for in sound data. Members considered doing so but rejected that motion with a 3-2 vote, then voted to continue the application to a future hearing.

Board Chair Wayne Boardman said despite the application still being open, the board appears to want more information than the club is able or willing to provide.

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“There’s still, I suppose, a possibility they could convince the board that this (sound) is not going to be an issue,” Boardman said. “But I think the majority of the board felt that they haven’t done enough.”

Sound levels still a roadblock for York Paddle Tennis and Pickleball Club

The York Paddle Tennis and Pickleball Club is currently pitching a project that includes more parking, a clubhouse and another court for paddle tennis – a sport that unlike pickleball has not been a source of noise complaints. As part of the application process, the club has been asked to provide data that demonstrates the noise will not be louder than 60 decibels, per the town’s ordinance.

The board and the club have been at a standstill since 2022, however, when both hired sound experts that disagreed on how to acquire the proper data. The town’s consultant Westwood has said the club’s consultant Reuter Associates produced a study that incorrectly applied state standards to the town’s ordinance.

Coupal said in another email Westwood wants Reuter to change the rules his study applies from the town’s ordinance to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s state standards. He wrote that Reuter has been using MDEP rules for guidance because the town’s ordinance was “less than sufficient.”

The club has remained adamant Reuter’s study effectively demonstrates the expansion will not result in more noise.

“We stand by Mr. Reuter’s sound study 100%,” Coupal said in an email Jan. 19 included in Planning Board documents. Friday, he said Eric Reuter, the firm’s principal, “did everything he could, provided all the information he had."

Also of concern to the board was spill-over of lighting into a neighboring property. Meredith Goodwin made the failed motion to reject the application without prejudice because of both the sound and lighting.

“If we don’t have it nailed down, we are going to have problems,” Goodwin said. “No board likes to create a nuisance.”

Boardman said it’s hard to say if the board’s request for a sound barrier to be built before approval is a deal breaker given the application is still open and the club can return to the board. He said a majority clearly wanted more information, however, to make their decision.

“I think it seemed the majority of the board felt like there was still room for improvement, and more of a certainty that any mitigation strategies would work,” Boardman said.

Pickleball club disappointed

Coupal said there seemed to be “no rationale” in the board’s request for the club to build a barrier for sound testing prior to approval. He said continuing the process with the Planning Board looked costly.

“Why would we put up a barrier to get a sound person to come in and test it and, again, they don’t believe us?” Coupal said. “We have no guarantee that that’s going to satisfy them.”

The club has been looking to continue its growth since opening in 2007 and has sought to be “good neighbors.” Coupal indicated there was no rush to decide their next step or if they will withdraw.

“We’re just going to let the dust settle, give it some thought,” Coupal said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York pickleball club stalled on plans to expand