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    Plunk! Plunk! Plu… On the front line of the pickleball wars
    • April 24, 2026

    Do you hate your homeowners association? Can a pickleball court ruin your life?

    With the clear understanding that these are entirely first world problems — and perhaps inviting tired jokes about white Teslas and 17 shades of beige — we’ll note that the relentless plunk-plunk-plunk of pickleball courts in close proximity to homes and other “refuge” spaces has elicited outrage in communities near and far, not just in Irvine.

    Noise complaints have been filed in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Vista, Carmel, Saratoga, Martinez and myriad other cities throughout the nation. In the particular situation we’re visiting today, some folks in the Irvine community known as Cypress Village say they’ve been driven to distraction, not just by the noise, but by the fact that their HOA paved over a green space directly next to a once-peaceful pool; spent some $100,000 on court construction and initially refused to provide documentation about it; and, whoops, failed to get proper permission from the city of Irvine, which eventually shut down the courts.

    Some Cypress Village residents are beseeching the city to keep it that way, even as the HOA applies to let the pickle balling resume.

    On April Fool’s Day, the good-humored folks at Irvine City Hall poked a little fun at the broader pickleball wars: “Starting today, April 1, all tennis courts are being converted to pickleball courts as part of a citywide effort to make Irvine a pickleball-only City by 2027,” the city’s post said. “We don’t just think this is a good idea … we dink it’s a great one. We appreciate your love for tennis, but it’s time to serve a new era — hang up your racket, and raise up your paddles! Conversion of basketball courts will be considered for Phase 2.”

    (For the uninitiated, which included me until a few minutes ago, “dink” is a pickleball term that refers to a soft, controlled shot that lands just over the net, making it hard for your opponent to return the ball.) The post was tagged “#AprilFoolsDay #Pickleball #Tennis #WeAreIrvine.”

    Not funny

    But seriously. To many, this is no joking matter.

    “Residents signing this petition respectfully request that the city not legalize or permit the pickleball court located inside the pool recreation area,” says an online petition signed by some two dozen Cypress Village residents. “The community already has another pickleball court available, and a second court in this location is unnecessary and too expensive.”

    They cite several “key concerns,” such as the cost of construction and lighting, and now a sound study that would likely require more money to install (ugly, not-cheap) sound barriers that would “significantly alter the visual character of the pool area, creating an unbalanced appearance and changing the open recreational environment that residents currently enjoy.”

    The residents also cite a concern that doesn’t come up in every pickleball vs. sanity conflict: “(S)ecurity facial recognition cameras installed in the pool recreation area have raised privacy concerns among residents.” Receipts obtained by court opponents show some $9,000 have been spent on cameras at the complex.

    The cameras, a property manager explained in an email to homeowners, help identify rulebreakers who play early in the morning and/or late in the evening, before and after official hours.

    A recent round-up of Orange County pickleball courts (by our friends at Voice of OC) inspired some Facebook back-and-forth between what appears to be the Cypress Village HOA’s president — pickleball enthusiast Jeremy Ficarola — and a man less enamored of the activity.

    “While it’s often out of reach (price) for many HOAs, in some communities the HOA can build a resident court if they have the space and funds,” Ficarola wrote, long before picklegate hit a crescendo.

    “HOAs can get approval quicker than cities (sic) long and slow process toward constructing these. I think a good rule of thumb is building them 200 feet away from any residence.”

    He posted a picture of the Cypress Village court, with the once-peaceful pool in the background. “Here is an example of what an HOA can do,” he said.

    “Plunk. Plunk. Worse than water torture,” David Zenger returned.

    “Don’t knock it until you try it!” Ficarola swatted back.

    “There’s trying,” Zenger volleyed, “and then there’s listening to others do it.”

    Perhaps it’s worth noting here that there’s a Facebook group with 2,600 members called Pickleball Sound Mitigation, where muffling the game’s monotonous noise is the central topic.

    Perhaps it’s also worth noting that the Orange County Pickleball group has 11,700 members, all by itself.

    Make it stop!

    Mina Woo created the petition and a web site dedicated to the Cypress Village court kerfuffle. Her home is about 400 feet away from the courts.

    Before the shutdown, she could hear the “ponk ponk ponk” in every room of her house. Every day. At all hours. She said she couldn’t enjoy a cup of tea in her back yard. Her husband, who works on East Coast time and is up very early, couldn’t get proper rest.

    Complaints about this to the HOA were met with what she claims were hostile responses, with some suggesting she should just wear earplugs and others floating threats of lawsuits.

    A quiet landscape should not be replaced with a loud sport court just because the HOA president likes pickleball, Woo wrote. “There should have been more community feedback and studies done before it was built and most importantly HOA should have gotten a permit for it. This is not fair for the community or the homeowners paying for HOA fees.

    “I do not want to go back to loud pickleball noise pool. These two sports are NOT compatible.”

    She was not alone in her convictions.

    • A pickleball court, bottom, center, is taped off at Lily...

      A pickleball court, bottom, center, is taped off at Lily Park in Irvine on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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    A pickleball court, bottom, center, is taped off at Lily Park in Irvine on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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    “The pool is intended to be a shared space where residents can relax, swim and spend time with family, but the presence of the pickleball court changes the atmosphere completely,” commented one resident. “The constant noise from gameplay and the crowds it attracts make the area feel more like a sports facility than a communal pool space. Pickleball is a great activity, but it would be much more appropriate in a designated recreation or sports area rather than inside a shared pool environment.”

    We’re talking design conflicts here, another argued.

    “Pickleball produces frequent, sharp, paddle-to-ball noise that is widely recognized as disruptive, which undermines the pool area’s purpose as a quiet recreational space for residents,” said another neighbor. “From a planning standpoint, recreational facilities function best when activities are separated by use. A pickleball court is more appropriately located in a designated sports area designed for dry play surfaces, proper spacing and noise buffering away from the pool.”

    That the HOA failed to get city permission for the courts is particularly puzzling, Woo said, since the bids she was eventually able to obtain (after asserting her rights under California Civil Code §§5200–5240 to the property manager) say, in bright red type, “This bid does not include City Permits.”

    Addressing ‘potential nuisances’

    In an email blast to residents in March, the HOA wrote that its board of directors and Seabreeze Management were “working through the final stages of permitting with the city regarding the courts at Lily Park and Lily Pool.”

    The board has reviewed feedback and addressed “potential nuisances,” the memo said, including installing monitoring technology, adjusting lighting direction, reducing how long lights remain on, and launching an acoustic impact study of how loud the courts are. The HOA added that it has circulated updated rules for play (“including a progressive violation assessment policy”) and planted more, taller shrubs near the courts, “to increase hedge height for enhanced noise mitigation.”

    Ficarola, the HOA leader, did not return calls and emails for comment. But Melinda Tait of Seabreeze said that on Wednesday, April 22, that the HOA “successfully completed the scheduled sound study … in coordination with our acoustical consultant and community volunteers. The study included strong community participation, with approximately 18 volunteers taking part to help reflect typical use conditions.

    “The consultant is now in the process of analyzing the data, and the results will be provided to the city as part of their ongoing review. The Association has been addressing this matter through open board meetings with community involvement and continues to work cooperatively with the city and its consultants to ensure all requirements are properly evaluated. The Association remains committed to addressing community matters in a thoughtful, transparent, and responsible manner.

    “We will proceed based on the City’s guidance as the review process moves forward,” she said.

    The city confirmed that the courts were installed without an approved “Park Plan Modification,” bypassing required sound studies and city approval processes.

    “The original park design only allowed for tetherball and bocce ball,” city spokesperson Linda Fontes said by email. “Additionally, new lighting and security cameras were installed without the necessary building permits. Notices of Violation (NOV) have been issued to the HOA (Seabreeze Property Management). Most recently, on March 2, a revised NOV was sent calling for the immediate closure of the courts due to continued non-compliance and unpermitted lighting/cameras.”

    The HOA has submitted a Park Plan Modification that’s under review. And, for its part, the city “is continuing to ensure the HOA restricts court access and addresses the unpermitted electrical/lighting components.”

    HOAs have reportedly converted tennis courts to pickleball courts — just as Irvine joked in its April Fools Day post — only to re-convert them to tennis after noise complaints.

    Laguna Beach now mandates the use of “quiet” pickleball paddles to muffle noise erupting from the courts in Lang Park. And Carmel-by-the-Sea has gone further — banning the game entirely from its public parks.

    What will happen in Irvine, the city that gave “master-planned” its meaning?

    See you in/on the court?

    ​ Orange County Register 

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