Narragansett Council Holds Pickleball Courts at Four, Rejecting Six-Court Expansion Amid Lawsuit Threat

The Narragansett Town Council voted Monday to renovate the pickleball courts at 170 Clarke Road at their existing size of four courts, rejecting a design that would have expanded the site to six courts and added a roughly 1,200-square-foot spectator area.

The vote came after nearly two hours of testimony from more than two dozen residents, according to the Narragansett Town Council's published meeting recording. The council amended its own agenda item mid-discussion to specify four courts, then approved the amended plan by voice vote with one member opposed on both the amendment and the final motion.

What changes for players and neighbors

The four existing courts stay in place, but they will be torn out and rebuilt rather than patched. The town manager told the council that renovating the courts is "not just putting liquid asphalt and painting it green," describing it instead as a full reconstruction at the same footprint. No expansion, no new spectator area, and no additional parking were approved.

The council also reached what its president called a consensus that the design should include noise-mitigation measures — options discussed during the meeting included acoustic panels on fencing and plantings around the courts — though that direction was recorded as a consensus rather than a separate vote.

A budget-season consensus, revisited

Several council members said the four-court approach reflected a consensus reached during budget deliberations earlier in the year, when money was appropriated for the project without a final design being locked in. The town manager confirmed that money was budgeted for either option and that the council's selection would determine the scope. He also told the council during budget talks that no decision was required at that time.

That consensus was not unanimous on Monday. One council member said he supported the six-court plan, arguing the expansion amounted to a strip roughly 17 feet by 67 feet — "three of me laid end to end to end" — and that four courts do not meet current demand. He voted against both the amendment and the final motion.

Before the amendment was offered, the council paused over procedure. A member asked whether the vote should wait until after public comment, since testimony might change minds. The member who offered the amendment chose to proceed, and the council voted 4-1 to narrow the motion to four courts before opening the floor.

A threatened lawsuit from across the street

The sharpest opposition came from an attorney appearing on behalf of a resident of 110 Clarke Road, directly across from the courts. He had asked earlier in the meeting for additional speaking time and was told each speaker would be limited to three minutes because of the size of the crowd.

The attorney told the council the amendment did not resolve his client's objections. He said the design attached to the agenda includes a spectator area of roughly 1,200 square feet and trims part of the adjacent tennis courts, and that removing two courts from the drawing is "not just simply plug-and-play" — the plan, he said, will still have to be reworked.

He raised two arguments beyond noise. The first concerns the property's acquisition, which he said came with a state environmental grant carrying a restriction requiring green space be preserved. Expanding capacity, he argued, puts the town on a path toward restrooms, lighting and more parking that the restriction would not allow.

The second was acoustic. He said his office sent the council a letter last week including an expert report, and that the town's noise ordinance sets a 47-decibel ceiling with a carve-out for sound in the 1,000-hertz octave band. Every pickleball paddle strike, he said, falls into that band, meaning any sound above ambient levels would violate the ordinance. That reading was disputed by a pickleball player who told the council he believed the town's limits are 65 decibels during the day and 55 at night, and who said the difference between four and six courts amounts to about two decibels.

The council did not resolve the competing decibel claims during the meeting. No town staffer offered a reading of the ordinance on the record.

The neighbor himself also testified, saying he has lived at his Clarke Road address for 15 years and bought the property when pickleball did not exist. He said he sent his first letter to the town on May 1 and received no response, and that he has hired a law firm and an auditory engineer whose current case in Newport has run nearly nine years. "I'm not stopping," he said.

Players packed the room

Supporters described the courts as the center of a community rather than a hobby. One resident said an app used to coordinate play lists 629 people associated with the Clarke Road courts. Another, who said she is 82 and has played there regularly, told the council four courts are not enough. A resident who moved to town in 2022 said the courts were how his family became part of the community, and that the surfaces are in an accelerating state of decline.

Several players emphasized urgency over expansion. One speaker who supported six courts said that if the council would only fund four, the reconstruction should still move quickly because the cracks have become a liability. A resident who bought a cottage in town in 2024 made the same point, saying the work "is urgent" and that the cracks "are not just a nuisance anymore."

Others suggested alternatives. Multiple speakers, including one council member, raised the idea of converting an underused tennis court at another town park to permanent pickleball use. A neighbor said courts belong at a larger park farther from houses, citing a facility 2.6 miles away with 10 or 11 courts.

Opponents who live nearby described a different daily experience: cars overflowing the lot in the mornings, competition for parking with a summer camp and other users, and what one called a constant "pop, pop, pop." A resident across the street said the courts sit empty in the afternoons and questioned why players do not use a sign-up sheet to spread play across the day. The council president said a North Kingstown park with four new outdoor courts regulates use with a sign-in sheet, and said he would ask the town's parks and recreation staff to look at a similar system.

Several residents asked what the reconstruction will actually cost. No figure was given at the meeting. The council president said he would have preferred to see the design cost before voting; the town manager said the design is funded within the capital account for the overall project and that the budgeted amount can be adjusted if the scope shrinks.

Stormwater permitting approved separately

Immediately after the court vote, the council approved design and permitting services from BETA Group, Inc. for a stormwater management plan for the Clarke Road courts, in the amount of $28,180, by voice vote. The town manager said the plan is required for any construction at the site regardless of which option the council chose, and is unnecessary only if the town does nothing.

A council member asked whether the town is obligated to spend the money if the smaller scope makes the plan unnecessary; the town manager said no. The attorney for the Clarke Road neighbor again objected, telling the council the four-court design still needs further development before the permitting scope can be settled.

What happens next

Monday's vote approves the design and build plan and the stormwater permitting work. The reconstruction itself, its final cost, and the specific noise-mitigation measures have not come back to the council for a separate vote. Residents who want to follow the project can watch future Town Council agendas, which are posted in advance of each regularly scheduled meeting.