Correction: The city’s parks and rec committee meeting is Wednesday night. An earlier version of this story mistakenly said it was Tuesday.
Updated: Thursday, Feb. 8
After hearing from several residents — mostly against but some in favor of keeping the pickleball courts at Windsor Park — the parks and recreation committee recommended taking down three of the six nets at the courts.
This allows the city to see how fewer courts at Windsor Park impact the pickleball noise issue before making a decision to spend money on sound dampening panels or restriping.
The original story continues below:
The committee also recommended the city look into parking along Windsor Street, which is a secondary issue that some residents say is the result of the pickleball courts.
Pickleball noise at Prairie Village’s Windsor Park is back up for discussion this week, as the city weighs potential solutions to noise emanating from courts there that is bothering nearby residents.
The city’s parks and recreation committee will discuss potential solutions to the pickleball noise issue at Windsor, including possibly reverting the courts back to tennis courts less than a year after they were changed to pickleball courts last summer.
After several rounds of discussion about the issue late last year, the city council last month threw the issue back to the parks and rec committee to come up with a solution that could ultimately be voted on by the city council.
Noise at Windsor Park became an issue almost immediately
- Last August, just a few weeks after the Windsor Park pickleball courts were installed, Mayor Eric Mikkelson said at a city council meeting that the city was considering purchasing sound dampening panels to cut down on noise coming from the courts.
- Then, the parks and rec committee at its meeting in September recommended the city conduct a study to evaluate the noise issues at Windsor Park.
- That study found neighbors to the north and east of the new pickleball courts were more impacted by the noise due to their proximity to the courts.
- In October, the committee recommended that the city council choose an option for sound dampening panels and planting trees as needed to wall off the courts and lessen the sound traveling to neighboring homes.
Reverting back to tennis courts is still on the table
- Meghan Buum, assistant city administrator, said the parks and recreation committee’s discussion will be an extension of the city council’s most recent conversation in January.
- Buum said the potential solutions on the table still include dividing the courts between tennis and pickleball courts, going back to a full tennis court setup or using sound dampening panels to wall off the pickleball courts.
- Last month, the city council debated whether to install sound dampening panels or restripe some number of the courts into tennis courts but did not settle on a solution.
- Ultimately, the city council decided to send the noise issue back to the parks and rec committee to make another solution recommendation.
Pickleball noise has become a flashpoint across U.S.
- The tussle over Windsor Park is a microcosm of a national furor over pickleball noise.
- Even as the recreational sport has exploded in popularity the last few years, pickleball noise has become the subject of numerous lawsuits across the U.S., including a now-settled one involving pickleball courts at Mission Hills Country Club.
- Research has shown that noise from tennis produces sound at lower decibel levels than pickleball, due in part to pickleballs and pickleball paddles being made from hard plastic, which produce louder noises when struck. Plus, the irregular and often fast-paced thwack-thwack sound created by the sport can drive some people nuts.
- In past meetings, Mikkelson has conceded the city may need to backtrack on its choice to install pickleball courts at Windsor Park, saying “maybe the city got this one wrong.”
The public can provide input
- The parks and recreation committee meets at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at city hall, 7700 Mission Rd.
- The committee’s agenda does include public participation, and Buum said she is accepting feedback from residents ahead of time to share with the committee.
- After the committee provides a recommended solution, the city council is anticipated to consider approval of the recommendation.
- Buum said this could appear before the city council as soon as the Feb. 20 meeting.
Go deeper: Prairie Village to address pickleball noise at Windsor Park
