Tiburon club keeps pickleball hours after neighbors lose noise fight

After three years of complaints, hearings and a rehearing, the Tiburon Peninsula Club kept its amateur pickleball schedule intact at 1600 Mar West Street. The private club’s current hours remained Monday closed, Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., after neighbors failed to win broader restrictions on the courts.

The dispute started with CUP 2023-001, which allowed the conversion of one tennis court into four pickleball courts. The Town of Tiburon Planning Commission took up that permit on December 13, 2023, then again on March 27, 2024, after reviewing a September 22, 2023 acoustical study from Veneklasen Associates that said the proposal would comply with town noise standards. The commission ultimately approved Resolution No. 2024-002, but only with added limits on days and hours, a fourth acoustic sound barrier to enclose all four sides of the courts, and a requirement for an updated acoustic report about 180 days after final approval.

By 2026, the club was back asking for more room to play. Its new filing, CUP 2026-001, sought to add Monday pickleball and expand hours from March through October, Tuesday through Sunday. Town staff recommended that the amendment be exempt from further environmental review under CEQA, and the Planning Commission held a public hearing on March 25, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. at Tiburon Town Hall, with the session televised on Zoom.

The club’s own acoustical consultant said on January 16, 2025 that new noise barriers with absorptive surfaces had been installed around the courts. That report said the southern area of the club then held four pickleball courts and five tennis courts, with the closest residential receptors to the east, west, southeast and south. It also confirmed the existing operating window that remained in place through the latest hearing.

Neighbors argued that the noise still crossed the line. The town had already been forced to hold a rehearing after it failed to adequately notify some residents, especially along Marsh Road. Cres Van Keulen and Michael Scippa pushed for that rehearing, and Van Keulen said the continuous high-pitch sound from as many as 16 simultaneous players raised her stress and made it harder to enjoy her home.

Supporters framed the issue differently. Teresa Toepel wrote in favor of expanded hours, saying the change better matched the schedules of working members. That split points to the larger takeaway from Tiburon: clubs and towns facing the pickleball noise fight are now operating in a narrow lane, where access can survive only if facilities document mitigation, enforce hour limits and keep returning to the hearing room with updated acoustics.