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Five households near Westmoreland Park have hired a Portland law firm to demand the city of Eugene stop pickleball at the park until it finds a solution to noise and other concerns. Pickleball fans disagree.
On a hot Monday morning around 11, pickleball players at Westmoreland Park chased balls with paddles, a daily ritual for many who flock to the now popular sport.
A block away, resentment brewed.
The pickleball courts at Eugene’s Westmoreland Park are at the center of a dispute as the sport’s popularity has swelled in recent years and inspired noise complaints across the country.
Now, those complaints are in Eugene. A group of neighbors is demanding action to curtail the disruptions the sport causes, while pickleball players want the city to protect pickleball at Westmoreland. Dueling petitions are circulating.
“It’s a park, so there’s going to be noise and traffic in a park location,” said Beckala Millon, who was playing at the courts July 7 and supports pickleball at Westmoreland. “I don’t know the solution, but having people not play here is not a solution.”
‘It must be stopped’
The June 18 request for a cease-and-desist order, sent to Eugene’s City Council and Mayor Kaarin Knudson, cites five households in blocks adjacent to the Westmoreland pickleball courts as being harmed by the game.
The request mentions excessive traffic and light, but chief among the complaints is noise. Pickleballs, made of plastic, make a distinctive “pop” sound when they are hit by a paddle or bounce on the court. The request for the cease and desist order estimates that on average, around 6,000 “pops” plink off the court each hour.
“Unlike the prior use of the courts for tennis, which never produced any noise complaints, the constant barrage of pickleball strikes is intolerable and disruptive to daily life,” reads the complaint.
The request also points to Eugene’s land use code, arguing that pickleball at the park courts contradicts the city’s provisions for neighborhood activity centers because it “negatively impacts the economic and environmental qualities” of the neighborhood. “As a result, it must be stopped,” the request reads.
Calin Plesa, who moved into a house a block over from the courts with his wife and two young children last year, is spearheading the effort.
He said pickleball at the park has been detrimental to him and his family, citing headaches when he gardens in his backyard and a constant noise that keeps the family from fully using their outdoor space. He said that previous discussions with the city to find a solution were not fruitful.
“The city made it seem like they were going to take some sort of action,” he said. “I guess they decided not to do anything. It kind of forced our hand.”
Plesa reached out to the Portland- and Seattle-based HWS Law Group, which has previously been involved in restricting pickleball in Lake Oswego and Portland.
The dispute has not yet escalated into a lawsuit, which Plesa said he hopes to avoid with proper city intervention.
The cease-and-desist request claims that the city is aware of the impact on residences, pointing to the planned pickleball complex at Lane Community College and the promise that it would be 1,400 feet away from existing neighborhoods.
The ideal solution, Plesa said, is one that doesn’t stop pickleball at the court.
Peggy Fitzgerald, who has lived on the street facing the courts for 38 years, was asked by Plesa to join the complaint as well. She said she joined not because the sound has been overly disruptive for her, but because she wants the city to investigate ways to lessen the sport’s impact on neighbors.
She has seen changes, however, in the almost four decades she’s lived next to the park, thanks to the pickleball influx.
“Sometimes with the lights, it’s just really hard,” she said. “I can’t even see the Big Dipper anymore.”
Pickleball proponents disagree
The pro-pickleball side says it’s already made accommodations.
Roger Schaljo, president of the Emerald Valley Pickleball Club, pointed to recent changes the city has imposed on pickleball at Westmoreland, including limiting hours from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and chaining the fence to prevent people from playing outside designated hours.
He pointed to another pickleball court with nearby residences, at Meadow Park in Springfield, as an example of a neighborhood dynamic that has benefited from pickleball at the courts, which Schaljo said has brought higher foot traffic, new playgrounds, bathrooms and reduced drug activity.
“Neighbors are quite happy to have us there,” he said.
The board has started its own petition, open to anyone who plays pickleball at Westmoreland Park. The petition, which the club started circulating over the July 4 holiday weekend, outlines the benefits of pickleball while asking the city to re-evaluate the claims in the cease-and-desist request.
“Many of the points appear to be outdated, overstated or inconsistent with our lived experience as responsible, considerate park users,” the petition reads.
Schaljo said the specific claim that play is extending outside of the 11-hour window is inaccurate.
He did not have a total number of signatures available, but said he personally turned in 80 signatures he collected as an individual petitioner.
Many players at the courts on Monday signed the petition in support of pickleball, citing health and social benefits from the sport.
For Marliza Raney, who was in a car accident a year ago and started playing pickleball while recovering, the Westmoreland pickleball courts are an asset. But, she admits, they can get noisy.
She doesn’t mind.
“To me, the sound is my music,” she said. “We have a different perspective.”
