Martinez Staff Recommends Closing Eight Hidden Valley Pickleball Courts Over Noise Complaints

Eight pickleball courts at Hidden Valley Sports Courts in Martinez, California may never see another game after city staff formally recommended their permanent closure on March 13, citing a year of unresolved noise complaints and a damning acoustical engineering report that found no viable fix.

City Manager Michael Chandler framed the decision in terms of incompatibility rather than enforcement failure. "Based on the ongoing operational challenges and concerns over compatibility of these pickleball courts in a residential setting, City staff is recommending discontinuation of pickleball at this location," Chandler said. "We invite public comment about this recommendation to help the City Council determine next steps."

The courts only opened on February 28, 2025, following a $1.7 million expansion that converted existing tennis courts into eight dedicated pickleball courts, doubled the facility's total court count, and upgraded Hidden Valley Park's overall infrastructure. The project was predominantly funded through one-time federal COVID-era relief money. A new tennis court and a renovated half-court basketball court built as part of the same project would remain open under the staff recommendation.

From the day the courts opened, the Martinez Community and Recreation Services Division fielded a steady stream of neighbor complaints about the distinctive crack of a solid paddle striking a hollow plastic ball, combined with congestion in surrounding parking areas. Staff spent the following year attempting to thread the needle between players and residents. Those attempts included installing signage and parking advisories, running two structured trial periods with shortened operating hours, introducing court-specific rules, encouraging quieter equipment use through an ambassador program with volunteer enforcement, and surveying neighbors within 500 feet of the courts. A neighborhood survey released last fall confirmed what the complaint logs already suggested: significant negative impacts on the people living nearby.

The critical factor pushing staff toward closure came from an independent acoustical engineer hired specifically for their expertise in pickleball noise. The engineer could not find any measures that could adequately resolve the noise impacts because of how close the courts sit to neighboring homes. With every mitigation avenue exhausted, staff concluded the location itself was the problem.

The Martinez City Council will take up the recommendation at its March 18 meeting, where council members will hear public comment before determining next steps. The staff report and information on how to participate, whether in person or otherwise, are available through the meeting agenda.