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Mashpee resident urges closure or enclosure of Ashumet Road pickleball courts, citing missing approvals and health impacts
Summary
Resident Ernest Barros told the Select Board the outdoor Ashumet Road pickleball courts have generated constant noise for seven years and alleged procedural and funding irregularities; the board agreed to accept his documents and review the matter at a future meeting without taking action April 6.
Ernest Barros told the Mashpee Select Board on April 6 that noise from the town’s outdoor pickleball courts on Ashumet Road has repeatedly harmed his quality of life and that documents he obtained show missing procedural approvals and unexplained funding increases.
Barros said he has raised the issue for years and presented packets of paperwork at the meeting. He alleged the project proceeded "in record time" without required notifications to abutters, without the town manager’s signed approval on key funding paperwork, and without a completed funding application to secure community preservation or capital funds. He told the board: "I don't have a home that I can go home to and get peace and quiet," and said that sound studies he reviewed recommended a 10–15‑foot sound‑absorbing wall but that the reports also noted sound could carry further after mitigation.
Town staff summarized prior meetings between Barros and municipal officials and said town staff had attempted mitigation. The town manager told the board he had met with Barros and captured the grievance in a summary provided to members. A select board member present had previously agreed that noise was a problem, according to Barros.
Board members declined to take action at the April 6 meeting. The town manager and staff said they would accept Barros’s documents, include them in the select board packet, and place the matter on a future agenda after members have had time to review the materials. The board also offered to make copies of documents Barros provided.
Barros asked the board to either move the courts, suspend operations until an enclosure can be funded, or completely shut the facility. The board did not set a timetable or make a commitment to a particular remedy at the meeting.
No formal vote or directive was recorded on April 6; the item was continued for later consideration after staff review of submitted documents.
