At the 12/01/2011 meeting of the Forest and Beach Commission, the Commission voted to “approve the installation of one court for pickleball; if usage is high then the other side will be painted for pickleball.” Two pickleball courts were ultimately installed on the courts.
At the 09/09/2021 meeting of the Forest and Beach Commission, the Commission approved striping for two additional pickleball courts (for a total of four) to accommodate growing interest in the sport. The local pickleball resident community generously provided mobile pickleball nets for the Forest Hill Park courts. They have consistently demonstrated a courteous and proactive spirit, contributing by painting, maintaining the courts, and regularly offering to assist with landscaping around the courts.
Since 2021, the City has received an increasing number of noise complaints related to pickleball play at Forest Hill Park.
On 08/06/2024, City Council directed staff to work with the Forest and Beach Commission to “explore a policy, prior to the end of 2024, that would balance the pickleball and tennis activities at Forest Hill Park with the surrounding residential uses.”
In response to Council’s direction, Public Works staff conducted extensive public outreach, including meeting with local players and surrounding neighbors to gather input leading up to the following Forest and Beach Commission meeting.
Pickleball proponents highlighted the sport’s benefits, including its accessibility for all ages, promotion of exercise, effective use of park space for recreation, and the sense of community it fosters among both locals and visitors. Conversely, opponents expressed concerns regarding potential noncompliance with City ordinances and sound guidelines, the lack of regulated playing hours, and parking challenges caused by consistently crowded courts, especially on weekends.
At the 09/12/2024 meeting of the Forest and Beach Commission, staff presented a history of the issue, a summary of outreach, and the context of how sound is addressed throughout City policies and guidelines. The Commission recommended that staff conduct further research into possible noise-reduction measures.
In the subsequent month, staff examined approaches taken by other municipalities, including the cities of Yountville and Monterey, to reduce pickleball noise. Findings were presented at the 10/10/2024 meeting of the Forest and Beach Commission, where it was noted that many other cities have also implemented sound-reducing measures such as quiet paddles/balls, restricted hours, and the use of sound barriers or sound fencing. The Commission recommended that staff further investigate sound barriers and record basic sound measurements as a reference point.
At its 11/14/2024 meeting, the Forest and Beach Commission reviewed sound level recordings taken by staff at three locations within 100 feet of the courts, measured at the boundary lines between public and private property (Attachment 1). The recordings showed periodic noise spikes slightly exceeding 60 dBA, narrowly surpassing the “Normally Acceptable” residential noise range outlined in the General Plan (Attachment 2, Table 9.2). While the Carmel Municipal Code Chapter 8.56 (Attachment 3, reproduced in its entirety) provides standards for evaluating noise, its criteria are more subjective—such as Section 8.56.060, which provides the definition of a Class D Noise, and Section 8.56.070, which outlines the General Noise Standard criteria.
When sound levels were taken while tennis was played, the sound gauge did not increase higher than the ambient noise levels in the area. Although the City used high quality noise measurement equipment lent by the City’s Planning and Building Department, the staff that took the sound recordings are not sound engineers, thus their readings were to provide a ballpark gauge of the issue and as such should not be held to precise scientific scrutiny nor to directly influence policy decisions.
Staff evaluated potential strategies for minimizing sound, including restricted hours, the requirement of quiet equipment, and acoustic fencing. The latter ultimately proved costly – in the range of $40,000 to $60,000 – and of questionable effectiveness relative to the overall nuisance complaints of persistent sound coming from a court which is uniquely situated more than 20 feet below several surrounding homes.
In order to prepare a set of possible rules for the Forest Hill Park courts, the Commission recommended that staff seek the insight of an acoustic fence representative and to continue researching what measures other jurisdictions have taken.
Interim Rules & Challenges:
At the 12/12/2024 meeting of the Forest and Beach Commission, staff presented a number of options for interim rules, which ranged from the possibility of elimination of the sport in its entirety to the regulation of pickleball materials, playable hours, and days. Staff did not present an option for the installation of acoustic fences due to multiple challenges, including repeated requests to sales representatives which went unanswered. The Commission ultimately adopted a 90-day period of interim rules which restricted pickleball play to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. After 90 days, the Commission would reassess their effects in March 2025.
Within days of the December 2024 meeting, temporary signs indicating the approved playable days and times were first posted and went into effect on 12/20/2024. Over the next several weeks, numerous complaints of non-compliance were reported to Public Works and the Police, to the extent that by the 01/09/2025 meeting of the Forest and Beach Commission, there was a necessity for a review of the interim rules.
Because the temporary restrictions were not codified in the Carmel Municipal Code, punitive enforcement was not possible. To address this, the Commission amended the interim plan to include locking the nets when pickleball was not permitted and adjusting hours to 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM to allow staff the ability to perform the 4:00 PM locking of nets prior to the end of their working shift. Days after the 01/09/2025 Forest and Beach meeting, staff printed official City signs designating the newly adjusted playable hours and days for pickleball.
The following month, the planned February 2025 meeting of the Forest and Beach Commission was cancelled due to winter weather. A pickleball update had been scheduled to be included in the Announcements portion of the Public Works Director’s Report.
As of the publication of this staff report for the 03/13/2025 Forest and Beach Commission meeting, numerous challenges have arisen during the timeframe since the adoption of interim rules. Locking and unlocking procedures have been problematic and costly to coordinate with staff and custodial contractors, particularly on the weekends and in the event of an employee’s absence or sickness. The posted rules, which had been displayed in three locations around the court on official City signage, have been reported to have been ignored on a weekly basis, as noted by staff, surrounding neighbors, and passersby. Additionally, over a dozen calls to the Police Department, and regular complaints submitted to Public Works, have continued.
In an effort to address the situation in its entirety, City staff developed a Policy whose purpose is to:
A. “Balance the pickleball and tennis activities at Forest Hill Park with the surrounding residential uses”
B. Comply with the City’s noise standards (Carmel Municipal Code Chapter 8.56 and the General Plan, specifically the Noise Element)
C. Be more attuned to the City’s village character
D. Align with the City’s human and fiscal resources.
Staff’s recommendation is predicated on addressing these four pillars.
A. Balance: The City has considered both the growing popularity of pickleball and the courts’ historical use for tennis. To accommodate both sports, staff recommends designating separate, permanent sections within the courts. The tennis side will be significantly larger to meet regulation dimensions, while the pickleball side, requiring less space, will fit within the remaining area. To clearly define these sections, staff proposes installing a full-length fence to partition the courts—ensuring one side is exclusively for tennis and the other for pickleball. Additionally, each entrance gate would be equipped with an individual automatic locking device to help enforce designated play areas.
B. Compliance: Staff is recommending two of the four pickleball courts be removed in an effort to reduce by one half the total number of pickleball-related sounds. Staff believes that entirely unregulated play may not comply with the City’s noise standards. However, by significantly regulating the use of the courts to limited days and times (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM), staff believe the recommended amount of play and duration of play will comply with the spirit of the City’s noise standards, uphold their intent, and would therefore not be considered so harsh or prolonged as to constitute a violation (Carmel Municipal Code, Section 8.56.020 D, 8.56.060, 8.56.070).
C. Village Character: The City is sensitive to the needs of our residents and their desire for the quaint village character that collectively makes our Village so special. At the same time, the City supports recreation in its designated park spaces. To balance our quaint ideal with the realities of living near recreational courts, staff recommends allowing pickleball play for a limited schedule—three days a week for six hours each. This approach provides local residents with an opportunity to enjoy the sport while helping to prevent issues such as crowding and parking overflow that can arise from unrestricted use.
D. Resources: The City Public Works Department has a limited staff, which makes it difficult to allocate resources to physically lock and unlock nets that are privately owned and located on City property. To address this, staff recommends that the City invest in high-quality, permanent pickleball nets, with an estimated cost of approximately $2,000. Additionally, by installing automatic-locking and unlocking mechanisms on the gates, staff believe this will significantly reduce the need for repeated in-person staff time. Staff also considers the estimated cost of a fence partitioning the two sides of the court to be reasonable, given the delicate balance we are aiming to achieve.
See Attachment 4 for the proposed Policy 2025-003. Staff is recommending the adoption of this Policy, predicated upon the City being the sole contributor to any purchase, maintenance, or labor relating to pickleball on or around the courts.
Environmental Evaluation
This action does not constitute a project within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act under Public Resources Code Section 21065. It has no potential to cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment and, therefore, does not require environmental review.