Resident urges Paradise Valley to pause pickleball permits, citing noise and property concerns

At the town’s call to the public on June 11, resident Terry Green Sterling asked the council to pause issuing pickleball permits and to involve adjacent homeowners in permit decisions, saying noise from courts next to his neighborhood has been an ongoing problem.

"The noise is nerve shattering," Sterling said, recounting four years of impacts since the town permitted two pickleball courts on an adjoining property. He told the council that a real estate expert suggested property resale values near courts could decline by about 10 to 20 percent. Sterling asked the council to “please pause pickleball permits until you have decided how to move forward" and to notify neighbors before permit issuance.

Mayor Stanton and councilmembers did not take immediate regulatory action during the meeting, but later in the agenda councilmember Moore successfully moved to add a future agenda item to revisit the town’s temporary use permit rules (section 11‑04), an item councilmembers said was prompted by resident concerns about construction laydown yards and similar temporary uses. The temporary-use review could provide a forum to examine permit notice and sound/spacing rules related to private recreational facilities.

The public comment highlights that residents are seeking clearer notification and potential changes to the permitting or zoning approach. The council did not adopt an immediate moratorium on pickleball permits during the June 11 meeting.

Next steps: the council added a future item on temporary use permits; staff and council will determine whether additional regulatory or notice changes related to neighborhood recreational uses are needed.