Residents living on Southwest 6th Street in Battle Ground say the newly opened pickleball courts at Kiwanis Park are disrupting their lives despite the inclusion of a sound wall.
The courts, located on the southeast corner of Kiwanis Park, officially opened on Wednesday, July 2. Neighbors say problems started from the moment players hit the courts, and now they’re playing early in the morning and well past park hours.
“I could hear it in the far side of my house,” Battle Ground resident Harold Thompson said, describing the day the courts opened. “My bedroom in that house over there is on the far side of the house, and I hear this clack clack, clack clack, clack clack, and I said, ‘What in the world is that going on?’”
Three households that spoke with The Reflector reported receiving no notice from the city before construction began. According to USA Pickleball, a nonprofit promoting the growth of pickleball in the United States, the sound level can reach up to 90 decibels.
“I never received any notification from the city or from the parks department that they were gonna do it,” Thompson said. “When they started the construction, it was like, wow, what are they doing here?”
The West family expressed similar concerns.
“We had zero notification from the city and we were highly concerned,” Greg West said. “We are aware of … the noise that’s involved with pickleball. So yeah, we were highly concerned when we found out that they were gonna put pickleball, six courts, in our backyard.”
“I had to look it up, and that’s when I realized the noise and everything,” Darlene West added.
Residents say the posted park hours, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., are routinely ignored by players. Bill Ramsey, who lives directly south of the court’s sound barrier, claims some players are using their car headlights or lanterns to keep playing after the lights shut off at night. Ramsey said he’s called 311 nearly every day to get players to stop past late hours.
“Even when the lights turn off at the pickle courts...they’re shining their lights,” he said.
The south-side sound wall stands 10 feet tall and stretches roughly 125 feet in length. Despite its inclusion, neighbors claim the metal roof acts like an amplifier, pushing sound further into the neighborhood.
“The sound barrier honestly doesn’t matter because it’s a metal roof,” Ramsey said. “It amplifies the sound. It keeps it inside and amplifies it through every opening that there is.”
“The metal roof is like … an outdoor symphony concert hall, it just amplifies the sound,” Thompson added.
On Monday, July 21, Darlene West and Thompson attended a Battle Ground city council meeting to voice their ongoing concerns. Residents have proposed various solutions, including insulating the roof, enclosing the courts, or installing better sound-dampening material. The council asked city staff to investigate establishing an automatic lock system for the courts and exploring additional sound mitigation options to revisit at a later date.
For now, the residents hope that the city will begin strictly enforcing hours, invest in real soundproofing, and respect the peace of those living closest to the courts.
“They need to enforce the rules,” Greg West said. “Enforce the hours and deaden the sound.”
The noise has changed how neighbors live day-to-day, with some saying they’ve given up using their outdoor spaces entirely.
“We don’t go in our backyard anymore,” Ramsey said. “There’s no relaxation anymore in our backyard. We can’t enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the morning... it’s like being at a stadium for some sort of a big match.”
Ramsey emphasized that his frustration isn’t with those who follow the rules, but with the lack of enforcement that allows play to spill outside of permitted hours.
“Respect the neighborhood,” Ramsey said. “When the time’s up, go home, come back tomorrow, we don’t care. Thirteen hours a day should be plenty of time to play.”
