“Everyone in Ridgewood deserves to play sports, enjoy outdoor activities, and live in a quiet and peaceful neighborhood. While I am supportive of any sports for folks to enjoy, that enjoyment SHALL NOT be at the expense of someone else’s suffering.”
“Pickle ball players from within town and outside of town would drive up to the Glen School Pickle Ball courts, hit their loud pickle balls for hours, have fun and leave to go back to their quiet and comfortable neighborhoods and homes to enjoy the rest of their day. But the neighbors who live around the courts have to listen to the loud, whacking POP POP POP sound for up to 10 hours a day during spring and summer NON STOP.
For those who don’t live around the courts, please don’t say we are exaggerating the noise, because YOU DON’T LIVE HERE, and YOU DON’T HAVE TO ENDURE the annoying sound constantly day and night. What if 4 pickle ball courts are right in your backyard? We pay just as much tax as anyone else in Ridgewood. Why should we suffer for up to 10 hours a day while you are having fun? And when I bought my house, there were no pickle ball courts here!
Ironically, one day I had my phone on speaker while in the pickle ball courts. A woman who was playing told me to please mute my phone because it was disturbing her pickle ball game. How ironic, do you know while you are whacking your loud pickle balls, you are constantly disturbing the peace of the neighborhood and the neighbors who live there? And it is giving me anxiety attacks just listening to the balls all day long.
Please enjoy your game somewhere else when it is not disturbing the people around you. Please put yourselves in our shoes, what if there were 4 pickle ball courts right in your backyard, how would you feel? “
Same with a private business in a neighborhood park. Healthbarn in the Habernickel park that was placed there without any consideration to the neighbors
Let Habernickel go….
Residents bought with no consideration of the surrounding area.
… Oh wait. They did.
They paid less than other comparable houses in Ridgewood.
Gambled. Lost. Played Victim card.
They bought a house next to a school And tennis courts They paid less because of the location. The time to act was 2019 when the tennis courts were converted in PB courts. That ship sailed
Now the homeowners want to stop the noise as they find it disturbing. What is wrong with this argument? The PB people play within the posted hours. They use noise reducing balls and adhere to the posted rules. The Village listens to the squeaky wheel. The Village acts in a discriminatory manner and does not follow NJ Administrative Law. They act against the Interest of Ridgewood PB. Ridgewood PB consists of 153 people. Most people are seniors and this is their only form of exercise The Village has placed the interest of 30 people ( the homeowners) over the rights of at least 153 people. A percentage are current Ridgewood taxpayers. That is clearly not fair.
A number of PB players went on the block while PB was being played. The real noise is not the PB being played. The larger noise is the people enjoying the game and conversing. This issue needs to be resolved amicably. Shutting the Courts during Covid is not fair or the solution
During Covid Housing Prices rose 20%. If the noise was not tolerable, the neighbors could have sold there homes for Top Dollar. They chose not to sell. That was their choice. To complain about noise when they should have no expectation of no noise is ridiculous. They bought homes near a school and tennis courts. They should have no expectation of no noise. For them to complain now is not fair !
Having just begun playing pickleball at the Ridgwood Y last November, I was quickly hooked. It is a wonderful activity for me and the dozens of players whom I have met thru the game.
When the Ridgewood Y closed along with many other public venues early in 2020, the Glen School courts afforded a perfectly acceptable alternative. I understand that Glen School courts were woefully underutilized as tennis courts. Fortunately for the pickleball players, the Parks and Rec Dept. had taken decisive action that better fulfilled its declared mission statement as presented on the Village website.
Now to the controversy at hand: to my knowledge, no empirical evidence supporting complaints made by the homeowners adjacent to the Glen School pickleball courts has been presented to any Village entity. All complaints have been completely subjective, i.e.; ”too loud”, “10 hours a day”, “annoying”, “nerve-racking”, “forced to sell my home”, etc.
Despite the lack of empirical evidence, over the past several months the Village has bent over backwards to appease these homeowners. The 12 foot high fence at Glen courts has been completely covered with sound-deadening fabric and players are required to use a specific, quieter pickleball.
My first home in Bergen County directly abutted a railroad freight line. It took some getting used to, but after a while I could sleep through the night undisturbed by the trains, and barely noticed them during the daytime. People can get used to anything – but they have to want to! The Glen School neighbors don’t want to be flexible – they want what they want, to the detriment of the rest of their fellow Villagers.
So, dear Village “powers-that-be”, stop appeasing the complaining parties until they present objective, fact-based data to support their claims. If and when they do so, an objective conversation can be had. Until then, let pickleball resume immediately at Glen School courts.
Nothing better to do. I am sure this is not a violation of the noise ordinance
The school and tennis courts were in place before the homeowner purchased the property. Thus there could not be an expectation of the quiet that someone else paid to be on a quiet street. No different than the discount that a buyer gets for purchasing on a busy street. There are 900 or so registered players and maybe 6 homes that are in the immediate vicinity. Where is the equity in denying the 900 the right to play, especially during Covid?
Day time hours WIN! After a certain time 🤔they have to stop.