Georgia neighbors are asking cities to rethink pickleball courts
11Alive
[{'start': '0.029', 'end': '3.680', 'text': "Tonight's pickle ball is exploding in popularity all across the country, but not everyone wants it in their own backyard. Caitlin Ross takes us from Peachtree City to Tucker, where complaints are stacking up over the sound, the space, and the stress. Sitting on the sidelines isn't John Riley's speed. It's interesting to see how the dance goes. Oh, day one, day one. What is that? The sound of pickleball in Peachtree City. -- 6 -- quarts, all full. Quickly pushing him off the bench. We're now entering our 4th year of dealing with the noise, so he got in the game, going to city council to try and cancel the noise. It's the sound of two of your neighbors re-roofing their house from sun up to sundown, pock pock pockety pock. The sport is surging in the US with 13.6 million people picking up a paddle. Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the country, but it's quickly annoying neighbors. And then when I heard the noise, I felt bad for me, like John, who lives just 240 ft from the courts. When I first walk on the court, it might be, Hey, Riley, did we wake you up? -- He plays pickle -- ball. -- the -- unturnable on those same. Even while going on the offense against it. I use a quiet paddle and I refuse to play before 10 o'clock in the morning and I don't play after 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The people fighting against the courts, they're not anti-pickle ball. The irony of this is that a couple of us play pickleball. It's quiet in Tucker now, and Rebecca Goss is fighting to preserve that peace. -- There'll be 3 courts on this side where -- 12 proposed courts would be just hundreds of feet from her home. -- It's -- a constant popping. It would mean very, very negative consequences on the quality of my life as well as my property values. They're so frustrated in Tucker they're considering filing a lawsuit, so are neighbors in summer. Grove, an HOA community in Noonan, where the courts are just 80 ft away from homes. Avondale Estates requires people play pickle ball with noise reducing paddles and soft balls to try and dim the noise. Some communities have tried erecting noise canceling fences, but they have to be about 12 ft high to be effective. And in Peachtree City, they're just going to move the courts looking for a new spot more than 1000 ft away from homes so people can still enjoy the game without all this noise. Well, do you want to buy my house? The pock pock sound, the screaming, the yelling makes it impossible to just enjoy what was previously some quiet. Riley says cities need to listen before the tension grows louder. We want everybody to be able to play and have a good time. It just doesn't need to be in somebody's backyard. Reporting in Peachtree City, Caitlin Ross, 1 live news. I have to. Admit I do love pickleball. I love getting out there playing a little pickle ball, but a lot of folks may be wondering why isn't there like an uproar over tennis? Well, Pickleball uses hard paddles and plastic balls which create a higher pitched sound in terms of decibels. Experts say it measures about the same as freeway traffic, but the pitch of the sound makes it harder to tune out."}]