North Salem officials try to solve pickleball problem

If there’s a demand for pickleball, I say we should try to satisfy it.”

Councilman Martin Aronchick

NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - North Salem has found itself in a bit of a pickle.

Superintendent of Parks Ward Hanaburgh has received several noise complaints from neighbors of Joe Bohrdrum Park’s tennis courts, where pickleball is also played.

“It’s pretty loud,” noted Supervisor Warren Lucas at the Town Board’s Sept. 9 meeting.

Lucas recalled once being told by someone in the pickleball community itself that no pickleball court “should be within 500 feet of a home.”

The folks who complained lives 187 feet away, he said. The park is located on Sunset Drive.

Lucas noted that there are some types of paddles that “make it a little bit better” sound wise, but only “drops it by about five decibels.”

Pickleball is noisy due to the combination of a hard plastic ball and composite paddles, which creates a high-pitched "pop" at a frequency that is easily perceived by the human ear.

This repetitive noise, amplified by hard court surfaces, can be particularly annoying and jarring to non-players. 

Hanaburgh had previously suggested a temporary solution -- moving pickleball to the park’s basketball court.

“Other than that, I don’t have another location,” he said.

“I don’t know how many people we have, but I know it’s growing,” Lucas said of the game’s popularity.

Recreation Superintendent Lauren Rosasco estimated that there are currently about 20 people playing pickleball at Joe Bohrdrum., he said.

Councilman Brent Golisano asked if it were possible to build a court at Purdys Field, which has been used by the North Salem Central School District since 1928.

Located on Route 22, it hosts softball and soccer games. Prohibited, according to posted signs, are “horseback riding, motor vehicles, golfing, or unleashed pets.”

According to Lucas, the town is in the process of taking over the property from the district, which “doesn’t want it anymore.”

Pointing out that Purdys Field is “isolated” and near 684, Golisano that those factors could solve the noise problem.

Environmental factors there are the bigger issue in Lucas’s opinion.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection prohibits the creation of impermeable surfaces such as concrete and asphalt because of Purdys Field’s proximity to the Croton River, which feeds into the Muscoot Reservoir.

“So, no pickleball court,” Lucas said. (No dog park either because of the nearness to a flood plain.)

Shifting pickleball to the basketball court area would only shift the noise woes to people living on Eastern Way, he said.

Golisano inquired about Volunteers Park on June Road.

Hanaburgh responded that the only spot there that’s 500 feet away from residences would be “up behind the baseball field, and that’s pretty wet.”

The poor drainage there isn’t “ideal” for asphalt, he added.

(There’s a batting cage there that’s not used anymore.)

Councilman Martin Aronchick noted that the town’s recreation committee is updating the recreation master plan so it might be “useful to funnel all ideas for locating this (potential pickleball spot) through them and then we might get their best input as to …”

“We have no place to put it right now,” inserted Lucas, adding that the question before the board that night was whether it had to tell “Ward or Lauren no more pickleball.”

If that happens, the court will revert to tennis only, Hanaburgh said.

“We put the signs up, or we don’t and then we’ll still have residents who …” he added, shrugging.

Councilwoman Katherine Daniels thought Aronchick’s suggestion to seek the recreation committee’s input “was a good one.”

Hanaburgh didn’t disagree but noted that it “doesn’t solve the problem we have on hand right now.”

The unidentified resident has complained several times, he said, adding that if the town decides to keep the pickleball program, it probably has to find another spot.

Deputy Supervisor Peter Kamenstein took a swing at the problem, too.

“At this point in time, with it so close to residents, I say no pickleball,” he said.

There had been pickleball at an athletic facility on Fields Lane, but no longer.

The nearest indoor courts are in Somers at The Pickleball Barn at the Prodigy Athletic Center on Route 100.

“If there’s a demand for pickleball, I say we should try to satisfy it, but not at the expense of the peace -- and enjoyment of their property -- of homeowners,” said Aronchick, adding that until an appropriate alternative is found, pickleball should be put on hold.

“The best place to put a pickleball court is inside a building,” emphasized Lucas.

Hanaburgh said he would post signs at the park informing folks that pickleball is no longer allowed there if that was the town’s wish.

Lucas advised him to first get Rosasco in the loop before he did because “she’s going to have people calling her up ... as I’m sure we will.”

Another option would be to direct gamers to The Pickleball Barn, which costs $52 an hour for a private court and $15 per person for two hours of open play, Lucas said, adding that he’d asked the proprietor about giving the town “better rates” but was told: “Eh, probably not.”

Hanaburgh agreed that something has to be done.

“My take on it’s been, it’s a tennis court; it’s not a pickleball court,” he said, admitting he’s never played the game himself – or seen it played.