Wealthy California coastal city bans pickleball, saying it ‘turned into a madhouse’

Hannah Fry Los Angeles Times (TNS)

The constant pop pop pop of the plastic ball was simply too much to take.

Kimberly Edwards, who lives near the tennis-turned-pickleball courts at Forest Hill Park in Carmel-by-the-Sea, could hear the resonant sound everywhere she turned — outside in her garden, even through her bedroom window.

“It is very annoying,” she told the City Council last month. “And unless you live there I know it’s not a problem for you, but it’s a problem for me.”

After years of resident complaints, Carmel-by-the-Sea recently became the first California city to ban pickleball at public facilities. The sport, which blends elements of tennis, badminton and ping pong, has exploded in popularity over the past decade, with many cities opting to build or retrofit their public cou