Encinitas residents tell council Bobby Riggs pickleball expansion has created noise, parking and safety problems
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Summary
Eighteen speakers at oral communications described loud play, late-night lights and inadequate parking at the Bobby Riggs facility after its conversion from seven tennis courts to 22 pickleball courts. Residents urged enforcement of noise and parking rules and asked the city to require permits or shut the site until violations are resolved.
Dozens of residents described ongoing neighborhood impacts from the Bobby Riggs facility’s conversion from seven tennis courts to 22 pickleball courts during the City Council’s oral-communications period.
Neighbors said the facility’s amplified sounds, shouting, late-night light spill, and overflow parking have made life near Windsor Road difficult. Several speakers said they support pickleball as a recreational activity but not at the facility’s current scale and without stronger enforcement of the city’s noise and parking rules.
“Since the conversion from 7 tennis courts to 22 pickleball courts… the noise intensity has been overwhelming,” said Roberta Miller, a Windsor‑area resident who joined other neighbors in presenting a short video summary. Multiple residents said noisy play continues past 9 p.m., and a parent said a toddler in the household had trouble sleeping and was repeating profanity overheard at the courts.
Speakers supplied incident descriptions ranging from repeated loud amplified music and bright lights shining into backyards to unsafe parking patterns and confrontations by visitors. Several said the owner, identified in public comments as Steve Dawson, had not complied with prior city directions to reduce court counts and had missed meetings with city staff to address problems.
“Bobby Riggs... continues to be allowed to operate by the city of Encinitas despite violating restrictions,” one neighbor told the council, asking for immediate enforcement and, if necessary, an injunction to stop activity until the facility can meet decibel limits and parking requirements.
Neighbors said they documented repeated violations and that city staff had issued enforcement notices and periodic fines, but that the fines were insufficient given the scale of reported revenue from the courts. Speakers urged the council and staff to pursue permit reviews, re-inspections and stronger, sustained enforcement rather than periodic warnings.
Council members did not take action during oral communications. The council’s oral‑communications period was limited for that meeting; staff said the sheriff’s noise enforcement and city code teams are the appropriate channels to follow up on complaints received during public comment.
No formal agency decision or vote on Bobby Riggs was recorded at the meeting; multiple residents indicated they planned to continue working with city staff and attend future hearings on related agenda items.
