Neighbors press board for acoustic and geotechnical studies as Santa Barbara designers review backyard pickleball court

The Santa Barbara Single Family Design Board on Dec. 1 continued review of a proposal to add a private backyard pickleball court at 45 La Salterra Circle after neighbors testified that the plan could harm neighborhood quiet and hillside stability.

At a conceptual hearing, applicant representatives said the court would sit near the bottom of the property outside required setbacks, require about 100 cubic yards of grading and two small eucalyptus trees would be removed and replaced with evergreen screening (three olive trees plus three sycamores). Landscape architect Stacy Isaac told the board the design would use two 4‑foot retaining walls with a 6‑foot fence on top and no court lighting; she said the team would consider acoustic panels that the applicant said can reduce sound by about 32 dBA and would provide a formal acoustical study at a later review stage.

Neighbors packed the hearing to oppose the project. John Krueger,…