Bloomfield Township Halts New Backyard Sports Courts Amid Pickleball Boom

Bloomfield Township froze permits for backyard sports courts. The ban will last one year. Officials want to tackle noise complaints and water runoff problems tied to pickleball's surge in popularity. The Board of Trustees voted 7-0 on Jan. 26.

Homeowners with existing courts can keep playing. Andrea Bibby directs planning, building, and ordinances for the township. She said the zoning board receives about two applications each month.

"We feel we could have better ordinances in place that better address some of the concerns. Some of the concerns have to do with the size of the courts, which means adding impervious surface to a property, which could increase some drainage concerns," Bibby said, according to WXYZ. "That's one aspect of it. Noise is another concern. Obviously, people are more aware now of the sound impacts of pickleball."

Before this change, every sports court needed approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The board set rules on where courts could go, how big they could be, what lights and fences were allowed. Play was restricted to daylight.

Chris Kolinski serves as a trustee. He discussed the challenge at the January meeting. "The balancing of property rights as well as the impact of neighbors is kind of really important, right? I want our neighbors in our community to be able to invest in their properties. This is important to them, but how do we do that with minimal impact on our neighbors?" said Kolinski.

Wendy Kippleman lives in the township and converted her tennis court to pickleball six years back. She thinks about her neighbors before she starts playing.

"I'm pretty much aware of the noise concerns. So, we don't play very early in the morning. We don't play very late at night, so I've never had any complaints whatsoever," said Kippleman.

Tim Manley lives in White Lake. He pointed out the sharp crack a pickleball makes. "I don't know the solution, but I don't know, but I wouldn't be happy if my neighbor put a court right next to me," said Manley.

Gus Ploss from Clarkston talked about the money needed to build a court. "With the growth of the sport, I know a lot of people that are doing it. It's expensive; it's not a cheap process. And I think if you use natural colors, the greens, the blues representing grass or the sky, I mean, it really blends beautifully into our yard," said Ploss.

Township leaders will gather with board members to discuss ideas. They'll ask residents what they think and schedule a public meeting about draft rules later this year. "So this is just a pause, an opportunity to kind of take a look at the issues as well as look at other communities across the country and see how they are managing this common thing that's occurring within the township," said Bibby.