NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - North Salem is taking another swing at finding a possible solution to the recent hubbub over pickleball playing at Joe Bohrdrum Park.
After receiving noise complaints from neighbors, the town started looking around for alternate sites.
Those included the Sunset Drive facility’s basketball courts, Purdys Field, or a spot at Volunteers Park on June Road.
For one reason or the other, each of these could pose their own set of problems. The first would also be located within hearing distance of residences. The second would require the building of new courts at great expense to the town – about $400,000, according to Supervisor Warren Lucas. The third place has poor drainage.
The popular sport requires paddles, which when they strike the hard plastic balls, make a sharp “pop” sound, as opposed to the softer “thwack” made in tennis.
On a sound meter, this noise registers at about 64.2 to 71.8 decibels.
There was talk of suspending the sport altogether – if only temporarily.
That stirred up a hornet’s nest of opposition from pickleball players, a few of whom aired grievances of their own at the Town Board’s Oct. 14 meeting.
Brandishing a pro-pickleball petition with, he said, 30 signatures from fellow Purdys residents, including those who live near the park, was Kregg Moyer. He was accompanied by his wife, Susan. Both said they play the sport at least once a week.
Moyer sent Halston Media a photo of the petition, pre-signing. It called pickleball “a growing, inclusive sport that promotes health, wellness, and social connection for people of all ages.”
“Removing this activity from our town park due to a single household’s complaint does not reflect the interests or needs of the wider community,” it read.
The petition’s language also noted that signers were acknowledging the importance “of being good neighbors and addressing concerns about noise.”
It asked the town to hold a “public forum to discuss constructive, community-supported solutions.”
The Moyers pointed out that they’ve been playing at Joe Bohrdrum for nearly five years without a problem.
“I would love for the person complaining about this to show their face and have a discussion. I think this all could have been avoided,” Susan Baum Moyer said at the meeting, claiming that there’s not “a whole lot of recreation” in North Salem and that, while nearby towns do currently allow nonresidents to use their courts, it doesn’t seem fair that she has to drive 15 or 20 minutes away to indulge in the sport.
(No one from the other side of the net spoke up at the meeting, either in person or online.)
Besides being great fun and great exercise, pickleball has provided the Moyers with “incredible, lifetime friends,” she added.
Also speaking up was Joan Staudinger of Yerkes Road, who invited Lucas and council members to come watch pickleball being played.
The gist of Kregg Moyer’s argument was that it didn’t seem equitable that the town seemed to value one complaint over the needs of a “community” dependent on pickleball for exercise and recreation.
Whether it’s one person or two, that doesn’t matter, what matters is what “they’re complaining about,” emphasized Lucas.
Apparently not willing to let the point go, Moyer later demanded of the town: “You’re reacting to one complaint, just tell them to suck it up.”
“That’s not going to happen, OK?” Lucas shot back.
“How can it not happen?” Moyer asked.
“Because I’m not going to do that … ruin somebody’s life,” responded the supervisor.
Later that week, Moyer reiterated to Halston Media that to him the whole thing is “about principle, not pickleball.”
Sounding Off
Pickleball isn’t the only source of noise at Joe Bohrdrum.
There’s the sound of mowing, not to mention coaches blowing whistles, kids and parents cheering and yelling during games, car doors slamming, and dogs barking, according to Frank Bastone, who lives on Sunset Drive “down the hill” from the park.
“It doesn’t bother me. I hear it when I’m in my backyard. I hear the sports; it’s fine. Kids want to have fun. Adults want to have fun,” he said, urging the town to “come up with a workable solution for the community.”
Kregg Moyer found it “amazing” that someone would move next to a park and then decide they don’t want to “hear the noises of summer, the noises of play.”
“It’s just inherent in sports,” he said.
(Lucas pointed out that the Moyers themselves don’t live next door to the park.)
Joe Bohrdrum’s tennis court has been re-jiggered with painted lines and special nets to accommodate pickleball use.
Lucas said he knew people who had moved next to places that were tennis courts that “all of a sudden became pickleball courts” and who are “besides themselves because it (the noise) ruined their lives.”
Previously, neighbors had an issue with the lights during night games. That was resolved by repositioning the set-up.
There was also some back and forth at the meeting about the distance outdoor pickleball courts should be from residences.
Some experts say they should be at least 500 feet away; others 200. No one seems to disagree that some kind of serious sound abatement is needed whenever there are residences within 350 feet.
(The folks who complained live approximately 187 feet away, Lucas said.)
The town’s Recreation Advisory Committee, which is in the middle of putting together a town-wide recreation master plan, weighed in.
In an Oct. 6 email to the Town Board, it recommended that – in the short-term – pickleball be kept to the hours of 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Mondays through Saturdays.
The Moyers also argued that those hours would adversely impact folks who want to hit the courts in the summer evenings or with their kids on the weekends.
The committee also suggested that players use “sound-dampening equipment to the best of their abilities” and that signs be posted where park users can see them “to ensure compliance.”
“We believe that this represents a fair compromise” until the town can pin down a long-term solution that will address the noise issue, be “cost-effective,” and meet the recreational needs of residents, it wrote.
Possible Solutions
Besides regulating play times, some things that have worked in similar situations include the planting of natural sound barriers such as dense evergreens, tall grasses, or climbing vines on trellises; and the hanging of acoustic fencing, panels, and sound-absorbing blankets.
The town is weighing the blanket option. These low-tech devices could be installed on two sides of the court to block some of the sound.
It won’t be inexpensive, however, said Lucas, putting the cost at about $18,000. That’s because the fencing itself will have to be reinforced to keep it from blowing over.
Quieter equipment such as padded paddles and foam pickleballs can also help, although they may alter the gameplay slightly.
Susan Baum Moyer brought along a padded paddle on which she bounced a plastic ball to demonstrate the sound it makes.
That prompted Councilman Martin Aronchick to good naturedly joke about possible “projectiles” coming the board’s way. He advised her that because the desk at which they sat was “bulletproof” -- the meeting room is also used for court proceedings -- she would have to “aim over it.”
Staudinger pointed out that the courts at Heritage Hills, a condo complex in Somers where she has pickleball-playing friends, block the sound with special curtains.
“It’s the simplest, fastest way,” she said, telling the board: “We are avid players and we don’t want you to take away what we enjoy.”
Good to Know
The Town Board’s next meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 28.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here