Offer of sound-control help to reopen pickleball courts gets cool reception

A plea to install sound-control panels so the public Wain Park pickleball courts can reopen has received a cool reception at North Saanich council, but councillors agreed to have staff look at the issue of noise concerns generated by private courts.

In a controversial move, district council voted 5-1 in April to close pickleball courts at the park on May 7, with Coun. Jack McClintock the sole opposing vote.

Neighbours of the Wain Park courts had been complaining for years about the noise caused by the game. About half a dozen residences are on Birch Road near the courts.

On Monday, North Saanich resident Frank Gee made a plea to council on behalf of the Saanich Peninsula Pickleball Association, asking the district to install sound-mitigation measures at Wain Park, pointing to recent testing in Oak Bay that found acoustic panels effectively reduced the noise.

He said members are willing to step up with money, construction and other volunteer services to help reopen the district-owned courts, which were built in 2017 for about $150,000.

“We want to make this work not only for pickleball players but also for the community, the local residents,” Gee said. “We want to help you reopen what you already know is an excellent facility.”

But councillors had no questions for Gee, and quickly moved on to the next topic.

Members of the public who had come specifically to support pickleball began leaving council chambers as Mayor Peter Jones began discussing recommended changes to the district’s Official Community Plan, proposed by a mayor-appointed committee.

Saanich Peninsula Pickleball Association president Brad Watson said the silence following the presentation spoke volumes about council’s willingness to engage on the matter.

The report that Gee presented took “hundreds of hours” to organize, condense and summarize, he said.

Watson said a May 15 sound test at Carnarvon Park in Oak Bay, conducted by an independent sound engineer, found acoustic panelling could reduce pickleball sound levels by as much as half, cutting noise levels to around the 45 decibel range, or as loud as an average conversation or a game of tennis.

McClintock said the report merits further discussion and he is hoping to put the matter on the agenda for the next North Saanich council meeting in August.

“Perhaps we can get a more fulsome conversation and take into consideration all the information that we didn’t have when the majority of council decided to vote to close the courts.”

North Saanich council did, however, vote unanimously in favour of asking district staff to study how other municipalities handle noise concerns generated by pickleball courts on private land, an initiative proposed by McClintock in response to concerns raised by some residents.

McClintock said private pickleball courts should be just as neighbourhood friendly as public ones. “I think it’s important to address the concerns of neighbours.”

He estimates there are six private pickleball courts in North Saanich but said there is no way of knowing for sure, as there isn’t a pickleball court registration system in the municipality.

Meanwhile, Watson said players will continue to contest the Wain Park court closing.

A group of pickleball players including Watson say they are planning for legal action if the pickleball courts remain closed.