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Planning Commission approves limited expansion of Tiburon Peninsula Club pickleball hours after acoustics debate
Summary
After extensive public comment and technical testimony, the Planning Commission voted to amend the TPC conditional use permit to allow additional weekday and Sunday hours for pickleball with limits and monitoring; staff and the club cited acoustic studies and $150,000 in mitigation work while neighbors disputed the study's measurement method and urged a retained day of peace.
The Tiburon Planning Commission on March 25 approved a modified conditional use permit amendment that expands days and hours for pickleball play at the Tiburon Peninsula Club (TPC) after a multi-hour hearing that included staff briefing, technical acoustical testimony, applicant presentations and more than a dozen public speakers for and against the change.
Staff told the commission the applicant originally received conditional approval in March 2024 with restrictions on days and hours, polycore paddle requirements, acoustic barriers and a follow-up noise study. The staff report said the January 16, 2025 acoustical analysis measured noise and concluded "the noise generated from pickleball play measured at receiving residential properties does not exceed 60 decibels LDN," and staff determined the proposed CUP amendment is categorically exempt from CEQA under sections 15301 and 15323.
TPC representatives said the amended schedule was intended to let working members use the club during non-working hours and minimize trips to off-site courts. Club board member Matt Hart said the club has "invested over $150,000 in sound abatement materials" and said the club is enforcing polycore paddle use; director-of-court-sports Colin Braun and acoustical consultant John Laverty described multiple measurement locations and showed before/after readings that staff said meet town noise guidance.
Opponents, organized in a neighborhood group called "Save Our Serenity," said the sound is a distinctive, high-frequency popping that can be disproportionately intrusive for nearby, elevated homes and argued that the sound-study metrics (averaged measures such as LDN and Leq) understate peak impulsive levels. Resident Eric Pyfer said the sound "is a distinctly irritating popping sound" and read letters and a 44-signature petition from nearby residents; other neighbors cited national examples of jurisdictions limiting pickleball because of similar complaints.
After hearing applicants and neighbors, commissioners debated whether the acoustical evidence and mitigation suffice under the town's noise guidance and whether granting additional hours would harm the public welfare or property in the neighborhood. Commissioners proposed several schedule alternatives in discussion and ultimately approved a modified schedule (see below) by roll-call vote, with one commissioner recorded as dissenting.
New permitted hours (approved): March'October: Sundays 10:00 a.m.'4:30 p.m.; Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9:00 a.m.'6:30 p.m.; Tuesday 9:00 a.m.'4:00 p.m. November'February: Sundays 10:00 a.m.'4:30 p.m.; Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9:00 a.m.'5:00 p.m.; Tuesday 9:00 a.m.'4:00 p.m. The commission adopted the staff-recommended CEQA exemptions and included a direction that staff monitor compliance and that the club be reminded of CUP conditions (polycore paddles, no amplified sound, required acoustic materials). The commission's motion passed with recorded votes in the hearing record (majority yes, one no).
Next steps: staff will finalize the resolution, incorporate the approved hours and conditions into the CUP amendment and file required notices; neighbors and the club may return with compliance monitoring results or future modification requests.
