Council pauses all pickelball court expansion

To study noise

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

In the rising popularity of pickleball, the City of Centennial realized its current regulations do not comprehensively address outdoor courts — particularly the noise generated by the paddle hitting the ball.

Now, the city is taking a pause on pickleball court developments to assess what regulations may be needed.

e city council approved a temporary ‘pickleball moratorium’ that city sta recommended during the March 21 meeting. Effective immediately, the establishment of new permanent, outdoor pickleball courts near residential areas will not be permitted in Centennial for six months.

“Moratoriums are an ordinance that temporarily suspend certain approvals (and) activities within a city to allow us time to study, address (and) create regulations if deemed necessary,” said Neil Marciniak, the city’s director of community and economic devel- opment.

“ e recommended ordinance … presents you with two questions: Whether to allow unregulated pickleball to be constructed within the city and accept the potential for consistent or reoccurring noise complaints and other impacts that may come along with it, versus taking a brief pause to study the issues possibly regulate to limit those noise complaints and other potential impacts that may come along with pickleball,” he said.

“As educators, we think every day about how we can keep our schools safe,” he said. “The district continues to review our security plans as we do on a regular basis. We continue to work with our partners in law enforcement and school safety experts to ensure the district is prepared for any possible threat.”

Smith went on to list how the Cherry Creek School District has handled security measures. These measures include:

There are district security coordinators and school resource officers (SROs) at all high schools, and security teams and SROs patrol and support all elementary and middle schools.

SEE SCHOOLS, P5