South Burlington residents press city over pickleball noise at Szymanski Park

Residents pressed South Burlington leaders again over the noise coming off Szymanski Park, where four pickleball courts have become a neighborhood flashpoint since the city converted part of a tennis-court area in 2022. At the May 4 council discussion, neighbors said the sound had become a daily disruption and a quality-of-life issue, while players argued the park gave them a social outlet and a way to stay active with friends.

The latest step was a notable one for court access: the city moved to remove two nets from the courts and asked South Burlington Parks and Recreation to keep studying the broader impact on the neighborhood. For retreat organizers and facility operators, that kind of response is the warning sign to watch. A venue that looks attractive because it has open courts can still become unreliable if nearby residents feel the play is overwhelming their homes and streets.

This conflict has been building for years. The city agenda item for the May 4, 2026 meeting said the council had already talked about pickleball at Szymanski Park on April 6, 2026 and had several conversations about it in 2024, when no further action was taken beyond limiting hours. In July 2024, Jovana Guarino said she had calculated the courts could be active for 105 hours a week, 420 hours a month, or 3,780 hours a year. Another neighbor said parking around the park had turned into a “free-for-all” on surrounding blocks.

By August 2024, the city had considered sound-mitigation options that NBC5 reported could cost nearly $30,000, but it did not move ahead with that investment. Instead, South Burlington set official pickleball hours from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., replacing the park’s broader sunrise-to-sunset schedule. Guarino’s petition had gathered more than 70 signatures by then.

The dispute remained unresolved in June 2025, when NBC5 reported that Guarino said she had been dealing with the problem for three summers and was considering suing the city. She also called for the courts to be moved to Veterans Memorial Park on Dorsett Street. In the same period, Councilor Andrew Chalnick reviewed traffic concerns on Andrews Avenue, where an evaluation found the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit was being observed.

What started as a courtside amenity has turned into a long-running test of neighborhood tolerance, operating hours, and city patience. South Burlington’s experience shows how quickly a popular pickleball site can shift from asset to liability when noise complaints, parking concerns, and court access collide.