The Sedona City Council held a work session on Oct. 9, and council members supported enacting new regulations regarding pickleball courts on private property.
The session followed complaints from several Chapel-area residents during the public comment period of the Sept. 24 City Council meeting. They opposed the ongoing construction of a private pickleball court in their neighborhood, saying the noise from pickleball play posed a health risk to them and their dogs.
“There are no regulations in current land development laws, and there have never been any regulations regarding sport courts,” Planning Director Kari Meyer said. “We typically consider them in the same way that we considered concrete patios and backyard concrete slabs, which are permitted without a permit,” while adding additional construction features such as fencing, grading, and lighting. mentioned that a permit may be required.
“We don’t have a permit specifically for sport courts, so we don’t necessarily have a record of how many courts there are in the city,” Meyer continued. City staff used aerial photography to count two existing sport courts at Los Abrigados Resort and Poco Diablo Resort, four at homeowners associations and seven at private residences. Five of the houses’ courts are for tennis, one for basketball, and one for pickleball.
“We also looked at the code enforcement history of each of these properties and found nothing related to noise or court use,” Meyer said.
“Everything that was legally permitted to be built at the time of construction will be decommissioned,” City Attorney Kurt Christianson said. “For example, if the city decides to implement a new setback of 200 feet from the property line, it would not require the entire existing courthouse to be demolished.”
Regarding noise, Meyer said, “The city clearly just has a blanket noise ordinance for the entire community, regardless of what’s going on on the property.”
Christianson added that additional code provisions allow for subjective references to individuals making “noises that disturb the peace and tranquility of the neighborhood.”
“As Mr. Cali said, apparently none of the neighbors are complaining about the existing courthouse,” Christianson said.
“This is an opportunity for us to enforce against any of these decommissioned properties,” said City Councilman Brian Fultz. He asked if the city could issue an emergency moratorium on courthouse construction, perhaps using the mayor’s emergency powers. “That way, there’s no one rushing in and trying to start another court…Is this a health and wellness emergency?” The well-being of the population? ”
“There is no real emergency here,” Christianson said. “The regulations that Public Works and the City Attorney’s Office are proposing would be reasonable time, place and etiquette restrictions, not outright bans anyway, because that’s all the data supports. ”
“Is there a way that people can require existing courts to provide relief?” asked City Councilor Melissa Dunn.
“Generally speaking, no,” Christianson said. “Generally, they will be grandfathered in.”
“If no one has complained about the existing courthouse, isn’t it going too far to ask for mitigation for something that doesn’t matter?” asked outgoing City Council member Jessica Williamson.
“We need to think about this holistically,” Councilor Kathy Kinsella said, adding that the city council needs to prevent future changes in residents’ sporting preferences and recreational patterns that may require future regulations. suggested that it was necessary.
Mr Kinsella added that he was “concerned about small tournaments being held in locations with multiple courts” before proposing a limit on the number of courts a person could own.
Resident Becky Hofer claimed at the Sept. 24 meeting that 110 decibels of noise had been recorded “with a paddle,” a claim she repeated on Oct. 9. According to the inverse square law, a sound of 110 decibels will attenuate over a distance of 26.35 feet. Up to 60 dB, the city’s noise limit for residential areas, measured at the “outside line of the property.”
Resident Craig Swanson said pickleball is “qualitatively and quantitatively” different from other sports and the noise is “unbearable,” adding that someone “going crazy” over the noise is calling the city out. He said he could be sued.
“We don’t want to prohibit people from having fun,” Williamson said. “We have to accept a certain amount of neighborhood noise. I don’t think anyone should have to accept pickleball.” She went on to call pickleball play “intolerable” with “unique aggression.” He said the City Council should avoid complications by regulating only pickleball courts and play, not sports courts in general.
Fuhrman called for a focus on “percussive sports” and called pickleball “particularly nuisance,” while Kinsella said “reasonable measures,” such as court setback requirements, width, screening, and lighting requirements, proposed additional regulations.
“We want to proactively assist neighbors in requesting mitigation and help property owners get cited if necessary,” Fultz said, adding that pickleball-focused regulations will be implemented “as soon as possible.” Supported strengthening. Dunn said he would like to see a “broader” ordinance that covers all percussion sports.
“We want to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to pickleball,” Vice Mayor Holly Ploeg said, adding that she is “fully supportive” of tighter regulations.
“Tennis is a huge nuisance, but basketball is also a nuisance,” said Mayor Scott Jabrow, who also wants noise limits and setback requirements. “That noise from pickleball is much more harmful.”
Part of the city’s agenda stated, “While much of the discussion was about pickleball, the city cannot address just ‘pickleball’ and that the regulations adopted apply to all sports courts. ” was written.
Ploeg supported a future study on whether the city should lower daytime and nighttime noise limits to 55 and 45 decibels, respectively. The City Council “needs to evaluate whether our noise ordinance…is actually compatible with what we want for our community,” Dunn added.
Meyer said it will take three to four months for staff to draft more restrictive sport court rules and go through the necessary processes to amend the Land Development Act to enact those rules. .
The mayor and city staff officially opened eight pickleball courts at Posse Grounds Park on October 22nd.
