Dozens of Los Gatos residents and pickleball players spoke over each other, cussed under their breath and rolled their eyes at a community meeting Monday — all over a yearslong noise dispute that’s led to vandalism and verbal threats.
Town officials at the meeting, hosted on Los Gatos’ outdoor pickleball courts at La Rinconada Park, laid out their $90,000 solution to the ongoing friction. It includes resurfacing the courts, installing sound barriers, monitoring security cameras and installing a time-sensitive locking gate. The efforts are an attempt to ease the animosity brewing between neighborhood residents and pickleball players over the sport’s noise, after the situation reached a boiling point when someone vandalized two of the four pickleball courts with oil. The two courts are now unusable.
@sanjosespotlight Dozens of Los Gatos residents and pickleball players spoke over each other, cussed under their breath and rolled their eyes at a community meeting Monday — all over a yearslong noise dispute that’s led to vandalism and verbal threats. Town officials at the meeting, hosted on Los Gatos’ outdoor pickleball courts at La Rinconada Park, laid out their $90,000 solution to the ongoing friction. It includes resurfacing the courts, installing sound barriers, monitoring security cameras and installing a time-sensitive locking gate. The efforts are an attempt to ease the animosity brewing between neighborhood residents and pickleball players over the sport’s noise, after the situation reached a boiling point when someone vandalized two of the four pickleball courts with oil. The two courts are now unusable. Learn more at SanJoseSpotlight.com. #pickleball #losgatos #siliconvalley #bayarea #localnews
Court renovations are slated to begin in October and end in December, and will restore the two damaged courts. The vandalism isn’t an isolated incident, with four reports in the past year that have increased hostility, according to town officials and residents. Los Gatos is also looking for residents who live near the park and players to join a focus group to encourage healthy discussion.
Philip de Louraille is a regular pickleball player at La Rinconada Park. He said the renovations should stop people from playing when the courts are closed and the constant, loud ping-ponging that bothers residents across the street when the courts are in use. He was shocked when the courts were vandalized and has no problem with sound mitigation measures.
“It’s important that we all work together because (residents) shouldn’t leave (because of the noise),” de Louraille told San José Spotlight. “They shouldn’t sell their houses because we have pickleball courts.”
Some nearby residents are unsure the town’s solutions will be enough.
A homeowner, who asked to remain anonymous because they live across from the courts, said a man came to their door and threatened them in May after the oil vandalism. They told San José Spotlight the man said if oil was spilled on the courts again, the houses on the street would have a problem.
The homeowner said they didn’t vandalize the courts and reported the threat to police, but is concerned about the noise. They added the sound reaches about 80 decibels in their home, equivalent to a loud restaurant, according to sound measurements some neighbors have taken.
“The players are not really hearing (me), and the town, to me, is trying to contain the problem,” the homeowner told San José Spotlight. “The right solution is spreading the traffic to multiple courts, but (the town is) afraid that they’re gonna deal with two problems, three problems.”
Los Gatos isn’t considering expanding pickleball amenities elsewhere, even though La Rinconada Park’s four courts are the only free facilities in town. Residents can pay to use courts at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center. Officials said the renovations will consume most of the town’s pickleball budget, and they want to focus on remedying the existing issue.
Parks and Sustainability Commissioner Craig Gleason said while the improvements are needed, park neighbors and pickleball players need to hold the neighborhood accountable.
“We hear a lot about bad apples, whether it’s somebody vandalizing a court or somebody threatening somebody, whatever it might be,” he said at the meeting. “I think it’s very easy to say, ‘I don’t know who that is. I can’t control that person.’ But I think the community does actually have a huge influence on the way the community acts as a whole.”
Other West Valley communities have had issues stemming from pickleball.
In Cupertino, residents in houses roughly 60 feet away from Memorial Park’s four pickleball courts constantly hear the noise. City officials recently installed signs requesting players use quiet equipment if they’re playing in the early morning or late evening. The city is exploring different ways to mitigate the sound.
In Mountain View, Cuesta Park or Cuesta Annex could be turned into pickleball courts, and nearby residents are protesting the potential change.
Doug Thompson, who’s played at the Cupertino courts for two years, said players want to be good neighbors. He said the problem will always exist when courts are near homes, adding the best solution is to move the courts near Stevens Creek Boulevard as planned in the city’s Memorial Park improvements where the sound fits in with louder street noise.
“We don’t want to have people anxious, or it stresses them out, hearing that noise,” he told San José Spotlight. “But also we want to have a vibrant park where physical activity, laughter, noise and revelry happen every day.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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