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Florida residents are suing their homeowners association because of 'disruptive' pickleball courts.
Residents of the Andalucia community in Apollo Beach filed a lawsuit on August 15 against their HOA over its decision to transform clay tennis courts into pickleball courts.
The residents argued that noisy pickleball games are unsettling nearby neighbors - some whom are military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
A veteran plaintiff who lives within 100 feet of the court says the pickleball noise could worsen PTSD.
'Ten properties are located within 250 feet of the proposed courts,' Lori Sessano, a resident who is part of the lawsuit and a combat veteran, told Fox News.
'Those unpredictable pops triggers fight or flight response. This is similar to the sound of a handheld pistol or a pneumatic nail gun for construction,' she said.
Michael Wasielewski, a resident and a Vietnam veteran, also told Fox that he was not against recreation, but he wanted to preserve the neighborhood, which is 'not designed or zoned to withstand pickleball's continuous industrial-level noise.'
While this is the first pickleball suit filed against an HOA in Florida's Hillsborough County, hundreds of similar lawsuits have been filed across the US.
Even Robert Davi, 74 - an actor known for starring in The Goonies and License to Kill - got in on the action, speaking out in court on August 20.
'Pong, pong, pong, pong, pong, pong, pong, pong, pong, pong, pong, pong, pong,' Davi repeated, loudly, at the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners meeting. 'I could spend three minutes doing that. Would you like that next to your community?
'We need you guys to step up,' said Davi, who said he has nothing against pickleball but thinks it should be played a sound-free distance away from people's homes. 'We need you to really put in an ordinance.'
The commission meeting was split into two different motions.
The first motion, to put a temporary hold on permitting new pickleball courts within 250 feet of residential homes until an appropriate distance is obtained by staff, failed 3-4.
The second motion, directing staff to protect neighborhoods and research the growing number of lawsuits against municipalities over pickleball, passed unanimously.
It also asked that staff look into determining appropriate sound ordinances and distances from residential homes for new courts.
This is Hillsborough County's first pickleball suit filed against an HOA, but Commissioner Josh Wostal noted that at least 200 similar lawsuits have been filed nationwide.
In 2022, a couple in Scottsdale, AZ, sued their HOA after it converted a nearby tennis court into two pickleball courts. The couple claimed that the noise made it difficult to enjoy their backyard and that the HOA didn't consult them about the decision to convert the court.
In 2020, a group of homeowners in Austin, Texas, sued their HOA after it approved a plan to build a pickleball court in the community's common area - arguing that it would increase noise levels and traffic in the community.
Similar instances have been seen in South Carolina and all over California.
'The decibel levels exceed even our own noise ordinances in certain cases and that's because a tennis racket is hollow plastic,' Wostal said.
'A tennis ball is a hollow rubber and then it bounces on a soft clay court. Pickleball is a hard racket with a solid ball bouncing on a hardened asphalt,' he said.
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America, and communities are trying to build courts to meet demand.
The number of public pickleball courts in major metros has jumped 650 percent, according to the Trust for Public Land.
But disputes are drawing attention to increasing criticism being leveled at HOAs, and the fact that many residents are growing tired of living under their authority.
Homeowners pay monthly fees - that are often steep - to these associations, and in some areas these costs are growing at a worrying clip.
Many residents are also subjected to fines for petty infractions - including paint jobs, landscaping and leaving trash cans outside for a moment too long - with some even threatened with foreclosure.
Some lawmakers are pushing to abolish HOAs in their communities entirely.
As tensions continue to rise in Florida, State Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) is fighting to get rid of what he describes as 'authoritarian boards.'
'In the Free State of Florida, we should not have authoritarian boards dictate your day-to-day life with no accountability,' the District 119 lawmaker said.
There are an estimated 365,000 homeowners associations in the US, housing roughly 30 percent of the population.