Last month we reported on a new pickleball and padel court on the site of the old Mercedes Benz dealership on Eglinton East near Brentcliffe. This new facility, by Fairgrounds Public Racket Club, is expected to animate the site of a future development that might otherwise have remained derelict for years until construction commences.
But what happens when the increasingly popular pickleball phenomenon moves into a quiet neighbourhood of single-family homes?
That’s the key question facing some North Leasiders who learned recently that a pickleball court could be part of ambitious schoolyard revitalization plans at Northlea Elementary and Middle School. Not everyone, it seems, is enamoured of the steady sound of balls thwacking back and forth across a pickleball net. Some local residents are appealing to the school, trustee, councillor, and even the mayor to reconsider this part of their plans.
One resident wrote to us: “Noise issues associated with pickleball are extremely well documented, as levels can be as high as 70 decibels. We believe that exceeds Toronto noise bylaws. There has been no noise study conducted, and no sound barrier or mitigation is proposed. The site in question is lit 24/7.”
Other communities share these concerns. A pickleball court, erected at De La Salle College in the Summerhill area, has neighbours up in arms and even hiring a lawyer to examine their options.
We asked publisher Lorna Krawchuk, who is not only a regular columnist for Leaside Life but also a former councillor well-versed in thorny political matters, to study Leaside’s own “l’affaire pickleball.” Read on!
