HomeMy WebLinkAboutCourthouse County Park
To: Jefferson County Parks Advisory Committee 6 April 6, 2023
Greg Brotherton, Kate Dean, & Heidi Eisenhour
We have been communicating with Matt Tyler since early September 2022 regarding the pickle ball court noise at
the Jefferson County Courthouse Park on Washington Street in Port Townsend. The purpose of this letter is to
implore you to recommend and fund ( or allow pickle ball clubs to fund) effective noise attenuation.
We know that that Parks Departments around the country are aware of the pickleball noise complaints in
residential neighborhoods. There is plenty of evidence online, examples of noise attenuation and reduced play
hours in residential neighborhoods as alternate solutions to legal action for communities that pride themselves on
being inclusive of all the community members’ rights. Why was there no community input when the decision to
redo the tennis courts was in process?
Near the County Courthouse Park, the thwack of the paddle ball play is a hardship for those of us who live in this
residential neighborhood. We can hear the thwack of hard ball and bat connect INSIDE our houses with all the
doors and windows closed. We can’t get away from it! In the fall of 2022 games were played from 8:00AM until
9:30 at night. The inescapable noise is reminiscent of a 1960’s cold war movie of a prisoner undergoing auditory
torture. We are aware of the City of Port Townsend’s noise ordinance of a limit of 60 decibels. With just one
couple play on the courts we have measured intermittent decibels often over 60. Imagine the decibels with 8
people playing on the two courts.
We have lived on Washington Street for eight years, enjoyed the county park ourselves along with the rest of the
community. As we speak, the unintended consequence of the pickleball noise level at the County Courthouse Park
seems to be diminishing other uses of the greenspace park. People are not picnicking on the grass or gathering at
the picnic tables in the park because the pickle ball paddle-to-ball noise is consistently over the City’s 60 Db limit.
Is this fair use of our park for everybody?
Please note that it’s also the enthusiastic top of the voice whooping for hours on end as well as the sound of the
ball/ paddle impact. There may have been some reduction of players with the new courts at Mountain View but
both courts at the County Courthouse park still remain full for hours at a time on rain free days. We are quite
sure that players who are only on the court and hour or so, have no appreciation for the suffering they create in a
residential neighborhood. Education about respectful behavior in a residential neighbor might help but there are
those who don’t choose to read or listen to it, which is why the idea of following other communities success with
noise baffles is probably the best solution.
We have gathered a couple of website suggestions - see below- and bet there are more options to research on
noise dampening for outdoor courts. As the pickle ball community is enthusiastic about places to play, it would
seem only fair that clubs could fund-raise for noise dampening screens at the Jefferson County Courthouse park.
Jefferson County can pitch in as well. We look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thank you for your
consideration, we look forward to a resolution acceptable to all the parties.
Harriet & Charles Cannon 234 Cass Street, Port Townsend
cjcannon@seanet.com, harrietcannon@harrietcannon.com
Soundproof Acoustic Fencing Barriersacoustiblok.com
https://www.fencescreen.com/Sports-and-Events/Facilities/Pickleball-Privacy-Sound-Solutions/Pickleball-Courts-
Acoustic-Wraps.aspx