When the Sagaponack Village Board offered an amendment to a local law on April 13 that stated that construction of new pickleball courts would be subject to various setback regulations, based on a noise-attenuation study the board had carried out, the people of the village sounded off.
Their main objection was that the proposed amendment would allow existing tennis and other playing courts to be grandfathered in and converted for pickleball play, therefore bypassing the restrictions around a pickleball court, yet producing the same, intrusive decibel levels that a game of pickleball is said to make, according to the study.
So, the board came back on May 11 with an updated version of the amendments to village code sections 245-4 and 245-34.
"The purpose of this local law is to regulate the construction of pickleball courts or the alteration of existing playing courts for use as pickleball courts," the agenda read.
In short, the construction of pickleball courts and the conversion of "any playing courts or tennis courts for playing pickleball" would now be subject to the same regulations in the Village of Sagaponack, Mayor Donald Louchheim announced.
These regulations include a setback of 60 feet from the nearest property line, and the courts must be sunk at least four feet. They must also be surrounded on three sides by a six-foot, solid, sound-attenuation wall, placed no farther than 10 feet from the edge of the court.
As far as the conversion of an existing tennis court to a pickleball court goes, the new law states that that would be permitted only if the existing tennis court is sunk by at least four feet, and a solid noise barrier of three-quarter inches thick and six feet in height is installed along the length of the two sides of the court closest to property lines.
The board also included the option of erecting an Acoustifence or similar product that offers superior noise reduction, to be used in place of solid fencing.
With no real opposition from the those attending the meeting, the board effectively adopted the amendments to its local law.