An overhead view of a home with an unpermitted pickleball court. The court won approval from the city’s Architectural Review Committee Tuesday afternoon, despite neighbors’ objections.
The Palm Desert Architectural Review Commission on Tuesday approved an unpermitted backyard pickleball court near Marrakesh Country Club, despite vocal opposition from neighbors who said the sport's sharp, repetitive sounds create a nuisance that city noise standards fail to adequately address.
The 4-0 vote — with one member recused due to a conflict of interest — granted design review approval for the existing court at 73481 Purslane St., with conditions limiting play to the hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The court was built without permits by a previous owner and sold to the current owner with the understanding that approval had not been obtained, according to Alan Levine, the civil engineer who served as applicant and represented the property owner before the commission.
A noise study conducted June 18 by Ldn Consulting, Inc. measured sound levels from a four-player pickleball game at 48 to 50 decibels at surrounding property lines — below the city's daytime threshold of 55 decibels. The study concluded no mitigation was required, provided play is restricted to daytime hours.
Sound engineer Jeremy Louden, appearing via Zoom, told commissioners that peak one-second noise levels at the moment of paddle impact could reach approximately 10 decibels above the measured averages — meaning the south side of the property could see instantaneous readings near 58 decibels during active play.
Several Marrakesh Country Club residents testified against the project, arguing that the intermittent, sharp nature of pickleball noise is more disruptive than averaged decibel readings suggest.
"Even if the decibels met the city's requirements, you're not looking at the quality of the sound and the intensity of it and the intermittent nature of it," one resident said. "It makes it hard for people to do quiet activities."
"It goes without saying that the noise coming from this court will be a nuisance for all the homeowners on the other side of the wall — that's why they're all here today. But if we are casting our vote based on municipal code, then this passes."
Another neighbor said the court affects her mornings, evenings and the quiet enjoyment of her home, and expressed anger that the court was built and sold before any permits were sought. A third resident, who identified herself as the general manager of Marrakesh Country Club, said she was speaking on behalf of the club's 364 homeowners and said the club holds itself to full permitting standards for its own planned expansion.
Commissioners acknowledged the difficulty of the vote, with several saying they found the noise objections sympathetic but felt bound by the city's ordinance.
"It goes without saying that the noise coming from this court will be a nuisance for all the homeowners on the other side of the wall — that's why they're all here today," one commissioner said. "But if we are casting our vote based on municipal code, then this passes."
The commission and city staff also acknowledged Tuesday that Palm Desert's noise ordinance is poorly suited to evaluate the kind of intermittent, percussive sound pickleball produces. The city's standard is based on a 10-minute average decibel level — a formula that smooths out the sharp peaks that neighbors say are most disruptive.
"I think inherently the way we look at noise and measure noise is flawed," one commissioner said. "The formula we have is not appropriate because it doesn't take into account peaks in noise."
A senior planner told the commission that the city is studying how other municipalities handle sport court ordinances as part of a broader update to Palm Desert's Unified Development Code, but cautioned that any changes would require a full public process including Planning Commission and City Council review.
Staff also confirmed Tuesday that this was at least the fourth or fifth unpermitted pickleball court to come before the commission and that, to staff's knowledge, none had ever been denied.
Commissioners pressed staff on whether unpermitted court builders face meaningful consequences, and a staff member acknowledged that once an applicant enters the approval process, code citations are paused and fees are no different from those paid by applicants who seek permits in advance.
"People should know better, and there should be more risk involved with trying to go under the radar," one commissioner said.