Newport taken to court over pickleball at Hunter Park. Why residents have had enough
The City of Newport has been served a lawsuit over its pickleball courts.
Attorney Michael Mineau filed a legal complaint in mid-February on behalf of his clients, Mona Barbera and Warren Garner, who live on Dyer Gate, which directly abuts Hunter Park and its pickleball courts. In the complaint, Mineau argues that the noise from the game and its players has hindered his clients’ use and enjoyment of their residence and that the city has failed to remedy and abate the noise nuisance.
According to the complaint, Barbera and Garner purchased their home on Dyer Gate in March 2012, when the courts were solely used for tennis matches. However, in 2016, the city installed three dedicated pickleball courts in the park. Unlike tennis, the complaint argues, pickleball requires more players and the paddle is harder than a tennis racket, leading to excess noise. Additionally, the courts are the only dedicated outdoor pickleball courts on Aquidneck Island, which means players from “all over New England” come to play on these courts.
This, coupled with the sport’s spike in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased the level of noise the couple experienced in and around their home, the complaint alleges.
“The noise has prevented the plaintiffs from reading in peace, having conversations with guests, resting during the day, sitting or walking in their gardens, having holiday or social daytime gatherings, and performing professional work in the home such as phone calls and video conferences,” the complaint states.
Mineau and his clients are seeking declaratory judgements from the Superior Court that the use of the courts for pickleball constitutes both a public and private nuisance, that the city has been negligent, both in allowing its property to be used in a way that causes “damage and harm to neighboring properties,” as well as failing to enforce the city’s noise ordinance related to the pickleball courts.
Additionally, they are seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining the city from allowing the courts to be used for pickleball.
How pickleball complaints started
The city had a heads-up that this suit was coming. The complaint details a list of attempts by the couple to resolve their issues with the city, including a meeting with then-City Manager Joseph Nicholson, Director of Public Services William Riccio, Recreation Administrator Erik Reis and a representative from the Finance Department. It does not say the outcome of that meeting, but goes on to cite a July 2023 letter sent to Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong and an August 2023 letter sent to Newport City Council as a whole addressing Mineau’s clients’ concerns.
Included with the letters was a noise evaluation Barbera commissioned from Acoustical Engineering consultant Lawrence Copley, which backed Mineau’s claims that both the noise of the paddle hitting the balls as well as from the players themselves were audible throughout Barbera’s home. The background noise at Barbera’s home was measured at between 35 to 40 dbA, the sound level equivalent to a suburban area at night according to a Yale Environment Health and Safety. However, sounds during a game of pickleball spiked at between 55 dbA to 75 dbA when the paddles hit the balls, the sound equivalent to normal conversation, a business office or a vacuum cleaner at the most extreme, but in small bursts.
This report was also included in the legal complaint Mineau filed in February. The complaint also includes an August 2023 memorandum from interim City Manager Laura Sitrin which recommended returning Hunter and Vernon Parks’ courts to be used only for tennis and restricting pickleball play from being played at any city property within 750 feet of a residence. This ordinance suggestion, however, was deferred to the Tree and Open Space Commission, which recommended changing the times of day and styles of play allowed. The City Council would later adopt these altered hours for Hunter Park through an ordinance amendment, which the complaint calls “a grossly inadequate response.”
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Pickleball at Hunter Park in Newport results in lawsuit from neighbors
