February 4, 2025
RE: Pickleball Court
Dear Trinidad City CouncilI disagree with the plans to mark the tennis court with Pickleball boundaries. I’m sure the game of Pickleball is fun, but I do not think it is prudent for Trinidad to mark Pickleball lines on its already existing tennis court. The information given in the recent notice to residents states a decibel level higher than normal conversation at 100 feet. Given the close proximity of the court to residences this seems like an unreasonable noise to ask residents to tolerate. The nature of Pickleball noise is sharp, unnatural, and creates an uncomfortable auditory experience for those subjected. As you may well be aware of, numerous cities are now dealing with lawsuits and noise complaints from residents as a result of the obnoxious noise created when the plastic pickleball is struck by wooden paddles and bouncing off the concrete surface. The game is fairly fast paced so the sharp cracking noise occurs quite frequently.
Please be considerate of the residents that live in close proximity to the tennis courts and find a better use for the $65,000, repairing the Van Wycke Trail comes to mind. Town Hall already generates enough amplified sound late into the night. The incessant cracking noise of Pickleball does not need to be heard during the day.
Thank you for your consideration,
Tom Davies
Trinidad Resident
Former Councilmember
February 4, 2025
To: Trinidad City Council
Re: Pickleball Court Grant Project
From: Kathleen Lake
Trinidad City Council,
Vote no to a Pickleball Court. How many residents would be exposed to this ongoing noise weekdays, weekends and holidays without reprieve? For those of us who live in close proximity to the tennis courts this is a horrible idea! Lawsuits abound all over California regarding the noise from Pickleball and how its noise is much different from tennis, which by the way can also be problematic in close proximity to residential homes.
There are plenty of other locations for out of towners or residents of Trinidad to find a Pickleball court. Trinidad’s close proximity to residents who already need to endure noise from the Town Hall, and Short Term Rentals, as well as amplified music from a variety of locations. We do not need to endure this noise. The City also does not need to risk additional potential lawsuits in this endeavor. Let me listen to the ocean. Here are some current articles that show the problems to residents in close proximity. With this information the City must not knowingly subject residents to this noise. “The noise has prevented plaintiffs from reading in peace, having conversations with guests, resting during the day, sitting or walking in their gardens, having holiday or social daytime gatherings and performing professional work in the home, such as phone calls and video conferences,” the complaint reads.
https://www.newportthisweek.com/articles/hearing-set-in-newport-pickleball-lawsuit/ “He explained that pickleball noise can be irritating for neighbors because of its “impulsive” nature. In lay terms, that means it’s a sharp sound that can pierce even high levels of ambient noise.”
“The best way to mitigate the sound of a pickleball court, according to Willis, is to start thinking about noise abatement before the court is constructed. The firm’s research suggests noise mitigation measures — such as lowering the courts several feet into the ground and constructing sound barriers — are needed for most courts within 350 feet of homes. Extensive sound mitigation is often required for homes within 150 feet, and the firm discourages courts within 100 feet of residences.
https://www.kpbs.org/news/quality-of-life/2023/09/05/homeowners-are-increasingly-ta king-legal-action-over-pickleball-noise
Not only was the noise above the recommended level, but if one tried to put up a sound-absorbent wall, it would need to be at least 17 feet high, according to the engineer.
https://www.circlingthenews.com/city-going-broke-because-of-lawsuits-and-settlemen ts-pickleball-noise-next/
Fauth explained that the noise “comes through the windows and walls” of his home and forces his family to “play loud music, wear noise-canceling headphones, close windows (or) leave our home to go elsewhere when we just can’t take it anymore.” One resident took the Sea Cliff Homeowners Association to court after years of back-and-forth mediation that never reached a compromise, according to KPBS. https://nypost.com/2023/10/20/pickleball-creates-headaches-lawsuits/ Thank you for your letter notifying us that this was going to be considered by the City Council.
Kathleen Lake
6/9/25, 11:05 PM
https://outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/id/AAQkADkxOWYxMDM1LWYyYjYtNDA4Zi05MTBhLTY4Y2I3NTgyYTFjMwAQAPqJofI9yYdPtQrieMRHHK4%3D Page 1 of 2 Outlook
Re: No Pickleball next to residences!
From Maria C Bartlett <[email protected]>
Date Mon 6/9/2025 7:16 PM
To Kathleen Lake <[email protected]>
Cc Citymanager Trinidad <[email protected]>; Cityclerk Trinidad <[email protected]>; Ckelly Trinidad <[email protected]>; B Kenny <[email protected]>; Jtuttle Trinidad <[email protected]>; Kati Breckenridge <[email protected]>; Jacques Beaupre <[email protected]>; Dorothy Cox <[email protected]>; Maria C Bartlett <[email protected]>; Kimberly Tays <[email protected]> I agree with Kathleen. Pickleball courts are a health hazard! I have a severe startle reflex and I walk my dog everyday near the tennis court. I urge you to please vote no!!! Maria Bartlett On Mon, Jun 9, 2025 at 6:16PM Kathleen Lake <[email protected]> wrote:
Regarding: Public comments for the City Council meeting.
Trinidad City Council,
Please vote no on the proposed Pickleball court in Trinidad. Support the residents of Trinidad who live near the tennis courts. The incessant noise and POP POP POP of Pickleball is unacceptable next to residential homes. It’s a lot more about the pitch, frequency and duration of the noise, than solely about the decibels.
The “test “ the city recently conducted measured decibels only, and was not conducted in the adjacent residential neighborhood. It’s well known and easily researched that Pickleball should not be located next to homes due to the horrible noise.
Noise is a health hazard for us and the impacts have not been fully considered by the City Council. What noise mitigation measures are required or has the city considered ? Why was this new proposal not considered by the Planning Commission? This new potential noise source affects the health and welfare of residents and needs more information before approval.
Please read the following information regarding assessments for sound and mitigation of Pickelball. The number one recommendation is that it should not be placed next to homes.
However, what may be more striking than the decibel level, is the frequency. Pickleball has a high pitch, with a frequency of about 1.2k Hz, which is similar to the beeping noise that a reversing garbage truck makes. The garbage truck is intended to be loud and “annoying” in order to catch your attention on the roads. So, this “annoying frequency” is an issue for pickleball.
6/9/25, 11:05 PM
https://outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/id/AAQkADkxOWYxMDM1LWYyYjYtNDA4Zi05MTBhLTY4Y2I3NTgyYTFjMwAQAPqJofI9yYdPtQrieMRHHK4%3D Page 2 of 2 ITEM-Attachment-001-
92ad885c2a6f4bffaddc2355a3
e7df0e
PDF Document · 401 KB
The sound of pickleball – a detailed explanation, and what you need to consider before building courts
Sound level predictions and neighbor tolerance predictions must be part of designing a pickleball facility.
Pickleball sound levels within 100 feet of courts will usually be around 70 dBa with no sound reduction efforts applied. This is as loud as freeway traffic sound. https://crazypickleballlady.com/2021/07/13/the-sound-of-pickleball-a-detailed-explanationand-what-you-need-to-consider-before-building-courts/ Thank you,
Kathleen Lake
6/9/25, 11:07 PM
https://outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/id/AAQkADkxOWYxMDM1LWY…NDA4Zi05MTBhLTY4Y2I3NTgyYTFjMwAQAG%2FRUOrxORhLs4zNA3ptYFI%3D Page 1 of 1 Outlook
NO to Pickleball.
From Jacques Beaupre <[email protected]>
Date Mon 6/9/2025 8:53 PM
To Citymanager Trinidad <[email protected]>; Cityclerk Trinidad <[email protected]>; Ckelly Trinidad <[email protected]>; B Kenny <[email protected]>; Kati Breckenridge <[email protected]>; Jtuttle Trinidad <[email protected]> Cc Kathleen Lake <[email protected]>; Dorothy Cox <[email protected]>; Maria C Bartlett <[email protected]>
Hello all,
Please say no to adding Pickleball Court to the Tennis Court.
The neighbors that live close by and will be impacted the most do not want the added noise to their environment. Neither do I!
Respect the residents in this bedroom community who deserve peace and as much quiet as possible in this noisy world.
Thank you for your work,
Jacques Beaupre
Trinidad, CA
6/10/25, 10:41 AM
https://outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/id/AAQkADkxOWYxMDM1LWY…YtNDA4Zi05MTBhLTY4Y2I3NTgyYTFjMwAQAE18w6A1otBMg3ywR2CfM0A%3D Page 1 of 3 Outlook
request to add to packets/THANK YOU you from Trinidad Museum From [email protected] <[email protected]>
Date Tue 6/10/2025 9:31 AM
To Asouza Trinidad <[email protected]>; Cityclerk Trinidad <[email protected]> Cc [email protected] <[email protected]>
Anton or Gabe,
Could you forward this to Bryce and Carrie, please, or copy for packets? Bryce's copy came back with wrong email address and I don't have Carrie's email.
I wanted to personally thank everyone in City tonight at the meeting but I have the school graduation (museum gives a history prize) this afternoon and my family is in town so I'll miss the Council meeting.
Many, many thanks.
Patti
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject:THANK YOU you from Trinidad Museum
Date:Sun, 8 Jun 2025 18:18:45 -0700
From:[email protected] <[email protected]>
To:[email protected] <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]>, [email protected], Trinidad City Manager <[email protected]>, Gabe Adams <[email protected]>, Anton <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]> Dear Mayor Kelly, Council Members Kenny, Tuttle, Breckenbridge, Varela, City Manager Tagliaboschi, City Clerk Adams and Assistant Clerk Souza, Trinidad Museum Society is appreciative for your support in sharing Trinidad Occupancy Tax with our 501c3 non-profit corporation and with the Chamber of Commerce, Trinidad Coastal Land Trust and Friends of the Trinidad Library. The museum received the 2024-25 distribution in the amount of $6,417.60. So very grateful for this.
Wonderful community and member support since Trinidad Museum was incorporated in 6/10/25, 10:41 AM
https://outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/id/AAQkADkxOWYxMDM1LWY…YtNDA4Zi05MTBhLTY4Y2I3NTgyYTFjMwAQAE18w6A1otBMg3ywR2CfM0A%3D Page 2 of 3 February 1983, during its years of occupancy in the little gear shed at 529 Trinity (now Moonstone Crossing Winery) for two decades, through the 2006-2009 rehabilitation of the museum's current home, the 1899 Sangster-Watkins-Underwood building, and up to today, has encouraged and sustained the museum.
Some of the museum's latest exhibits and activities have been the installation of the "Luffenholtz Fish Camp-1950" photographs, baskets, nets and objects showing the smelt-drying Indian camps which ended by the early 1950s; the "Trinidad Eats & Drinks" exhibit in the Heritage Room highlighting the restaurants, smokehouses, hamburger stands, groceries and saloons over the decades; and the "The Humboldt Project-Postcards of Trinidad" exhibit in the Photography Room showing postcards from the Steve Lazar collection starting in the early 1900s. Exhibits rotate annually and we're always excited to plan new exhibits on Trinidad life. We'll never run out of stories to tell with Trinidad's rich cultural and natural history. Recent exhibits in the Native American Room have included the dresses and jewelry of Shoshini-Gensaw Hostler, an extraordinary Yurok artist whose work has been shown recently in Santa Fe, New York, and all over the country. She and other indigenous basket and jewelry makers have presented demonstrations at the museum.
The Native Plant Garden and the Historic Garden are maintained voluntarily by wonderful plant enthusiasts led by Ingrid Bailey and Mary Spinas Kline. The gardens are so lush that some paid assistance is necessary and the City contribution will help enormously with this.
Trinidad Museum volunteers host the first Saturday Open Trinidad Head Lighthouse days and have been doing so since 2017 in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management/California Coastal National Monument and the Cher-ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria. Museum docents also give lighthouse tours to visiting groups (Road Scholar, College of the Redwoods, lighthouse & history organizations and local elementary and high schools).
Volunteer museum docents welcome between 30 to over 100 visitors to the lighthouse each month. The lower number occurs when the wind, rain, hail and low temperatures are uninviting.
Over 100 visitors has been our recent experience and an average of 50 to 60 visitors is fairly normal. It is important to museum volunteers that Trinidad residents and visitors are welcomed as we would wish to be welcomed during any travel experience.
This year, the 250th observation of the Spanish sailing into the Bay and claiming Trinidad for King Carlos III of Spain during their June 9-19, 1775 visit, several lectures on the subject have been presented and an OLLI class will take place at Trinidad Museum on July 30, 2025.
The all-volunteer Board of Directors holds regular second-Monday board meetings, plans new exhibits, maintains collections and the building and grounds and volunteer docents keep the museum open Thursday-Sunday all year from 12:30 to 4 p.m. with many special tours for groups/families unable to come to the museum during regular open hours. Between June 2024 and today, June 8, 2025,, approximately 2,078 visitors have come to the museum. Our docents keep a daily tally. The gardens are open to visitors all year around all day so we are not certain of garden strollers but we know the ones we speak to enjoy the gardens.
The museum's Native American collections are extraordinary. Upon request, objects such as caps, regalia, dresses and other objects are loaned for special ceremonies. 6/10/25, 10:41 AM
https://outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/id/AAQkADkxOWYxMDM1LWY…YtNDA4Zi05MTBhLTY4Y2I3NTgyYTFjMwAQAE18w6A1otBMg3ywR2CfM0A%3D Page 3 of 3 The museum needs a new roof. This is not a very glamorous project but maintaining the historic building is an important part of our work.
The recent City web site is a very big improvement. The museum would be honored to have www.trinidadmuseum.org added to the Community page (we have recently hired a web manager, Miguel Garcia of 960 Design, to assist with the web site, which was hacked last year and some improvements are still in progress).
Trinidad Museum is grateful to be part of Trinidad's public-serving institutions-destinations.
Enjoying the support and interest of our City leaders is an honor. Thank you.
Warmest appreciation,
Patti Fleschner, President, Scott Baker, Vice President, Dennis Koutouzos, Treasurer, Virginia Waters, Secretary, Board Members Mary Spinas Kline, Carita Dooley, Jim Baker and Advisory Board Member Shoshini-Gensaw Hostler
Trinidad Museum Society
P. O. Box 1126/400 Janis Court
Trinidad, CA 95570
6/10/25, 10:43 AM
https://outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/id/AAQkADkxOWYxMDM1LWY…NDA4Zi05MTBhLTY4Y2I3NTgyYTFjMwAQAJJ%2FGXTNoURFnswr6saztkQ%3D Page 1 of 1 Outlook
Pickleball Courts
From Sherry Vanderpool <[email protected]>
Date Tue 6/10/2025 10:11 AM
To Cityclerk Trinidad <[email protected]>
Please vote no to adding pickleball courts to our tennis court. There are plenty of pickleball courts in Humboldt County to play on.
The noise level has been well stated by others and does not belong in our (mostly) quiet community.
Thank you,
Sherry and Chuck Vanderpool