The centenarian this week approved a six-month moratorium on the construction of new outdoor pickleball courts in the city so he can assess the potential for noise complaints and how to minimize them, as the popular sport continues to thrive in Colorado.
City council voted 8-1 on Tuesday night in favor of the temporary ban, which will end on September 30 unless extended by council.
There have been numerous reports from across the country of neighborhoods being driven mad by the sound of the impact between the pickleball and the paddle, which some acoustic engineers characterize as “impulsive sound” particularly annoying to the human ear.
Other neighborhoods seem to have no problem with the sound of sports.
The centennial moratorium comes as pickleball, an easy-to-learn and highly social mix of tennis and ping-pong, explodes in popularity. Last month, the Sports and Fitness Industry Association reported that 8.9 million people played pickleball in 2022, nearly double the number who picked up a paddle the previous year, making it the sport fastest growing in the United States for the third year in a row.
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