A MISTAKE by an HOA has resulted in a painful development that left a homeowner unable to open their windows.

Pickleball has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the US, becoming extremely popular since the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, players need places to play, leading to cities, towns, and homeowners associations trying to create that space.

Some have called for basketball and tennis courts to be converted into pickleball courts instead.

However, the movement has pitted neighbors against each other in a town in Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix has tried to meet the growing demand by converting tennis courts at two parks, with another one on the way.

In Scottsdale, courts at three parks were converted as well, however, in private communities, these changes are more complicated.

“Painful. It has completely changed my life,” Debbie Nagle told AZ Family.

“Very distracting, the high-pitched sound … you lose your concentration,” said her partner, Michael Kucklinca.

The couple said they could hear noises of a ball against a paddle going back and forth between players.

“I can no longer enjoy my backyard or open my windows. I can’t have company out here,” said Nagle.”

They said their HOA, Stonegate Community Association, didn’t notify them of plans to convert a nearby tennis court into two pickleball courts.

This conversion makes it so up to eight people can play the sport at one time.

“My problem is that the HOA didn’t do due diligence. They didn’t do a sound study prior to putting the courts in,” said Nagle.

Lance Willis of S&W Acoustics and Noise Control said he sees this problem all the time.

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“It’s intrusive, it’s a high onset rate, which is similar to other high-impact sounds,” he told the outlet.

“The thing that people complain about is the popping sound the paddle, when the ball hits the paddle.”

Willis is against converting courts and is usually called in to do noise mitigation studies once a conversion happens.

“We need to separate the paddle impacts from the background noise level,” he said.

“We do a complete model of the ground, we include topology, the sound sources on the pickleball court.”

He concluded that pickleball courts should be at least 150 feet away from homes, however, Nagle’s home is only 65 feet away from the court.

The HOA told the outlet that a noise expert was recently called in to assess the issue.

They recommended building two 12-foot walls – a project that would cost $140,000.

Several homeowners, including Nagle and Kucklinca, voted against the wall.

“The HOA’s are trying to make everyone happy, so it’s kinda hard for them,” said Nagle.

Robert Ducharme, a New Hampshire-based attorney said he’s overseen several cases similar to this.

“It’s a new noise and people aren’t used to it and they’re not sure how to handle it yet,” he said, adding that HOA boards control the common areas in private communities.

“Courts have routinely said that as long as they’re not doing anything blatantly illegal, like saying you can kill someone who loses at pickleball, they can do anything they want.”

He warned homeowners to “be very careful with your vote, these are the people you are seeding power to.”

A statement from the Stonegate Community Association said: “The two pickleball courts were installed several years ago in addition to the existing tennis courts in the recreational area.

“While they have since proven to be a very popular amenity amongst many residents, there are some neighboring residents who have expressed annoyance at the noise associated with the courts while they are in use.”

It continued: “The Association takes all resident concerns seriously and several months ago took the step of limiting the pickleball courts hours of use in order to address the noise complaints while balancing the desire of the other residents to continue to have the use of the courts.”

Both Nagle and Kucklinca said they would love to see the courts removed and they have plans to file a lawsuit.