The effort to resolve the pickleball dispute at Belfast’s City Park has produced a temporary place to play, promising results from quieter equipment and what Mayor Eric Sanders describes as a productive search for long-term answers.
The Waldo County YMCA has agreed to make room for two pickleball courts at the rear of its back parking lot until snow arrives, Sanders said in a Saturday update. The city plans to provide nets and other equipment for the courts. The arrangement is intended as a short-term measure while Belfast continues examining how to preserve the fast-growing sport without subjecting nearby residents to hours of the sharp, repetitive noise that prompted complaints this year.
READ MORE ABOUT BELFAST PICKLEBALL DISPUTE
Sanders praised the YMCA for stepping forward, calling the organization a community treasure and saying he greatly appreciated its help. The temporary courts will have to accommodate other demands on the YMCA property, including events that require its parking areas, but they give players another option during the remaining outdoor season.
The agreement is the most concrete development to emerge from a pickleball working group that has now met twice. A third meeting is scheduled for Sept. 30. The group includes city Parks and Recreation personnel, representatives of Friends of Belfast Parks, neighbors who live near the City Park courts and members of the pickleball community.
Sanders said the meetings have been marked by respect, listening and a willingness to learn from competing perspectives. Participants are considering several answers rather than searching for a single immediate fix, he said, with some measures designed for the near term and others aimed at determining where and how pickleball should be accommodated for years to come.
“People respect each other. People are learning from each other and people are listening,” Sanders said. “And people are actively trying to be helpful to find solutions.” Sanders said the second meeting sustained the cooperative tone of the first and called the working group one of the highlights of his time on the council.
The group is working through a problem that has challenged communities well beyond Belfast. Pickleball is accessible and social, but the hard paddle and perforated plastic ball produce a distinctive sound that can carry beyond a court. At City Park, residents complained about the duration of the noise and the effect of court lighting and heavy use on the surrounding neighborhood.
Belfast began responding June 2, when the City Council directed staff to limit use of the court lights to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and investigate possible relocation sites. The city installed timers corresponding with the new hours, posted signs limiting play to that same period and began locking the park gates at 10 p.m., reopening them at 6 a.m.
At the council’s June 16 meeting, staff presented information on alternative locations, estimates for fencing and sound insulation, and sound-meter readings collected by the Belfast Police Department. Officials also reviewed noise and glare standards in the Residential 1 zoning district. The council left the reduced hours in place and asked for further study of the City Park horseshoe area and Walsh Field.
The Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee presented its recommendations July 21. On Sept. 1, engineer Mandy Holway of Olver Associates outlined possible sites and preliminary costs for moving the courts elsewhere within City Park. A stakeholder meeting Sept. 8 then brought together recreation representatives, city staff, Councilors Neal Harkness and Paul Dean, and Sanders.
That process has consistently started from one point of agreement: City officials are not seeking to ban pickleball or remove it permanently from Belfast. The question is how to make room for different kinds of play while reducing the burden on City Park’s neighbors.
One experiment may help. Sanders said testing of USA Pickleball-approved quiet balls was considered successful. Those balls could allow some play to continue at City Park with less noise, while more competitive or intensive play takes place somewhere better suited to it. The working group has recognized that dedicated players and people enjoying a casual game may have different needs.
Sanders said he hopes Belfast can retain and expand pickleball at City Park through quiet balls or acoustic baffling while also identifying an interim location where players can play a harder, faster game. The YMCA courts may provide part of that answer for the rest of the season, although they are not being presented as a permanent home.
The broader review also extends beyond sound. Sanders said many working-group participants recognize that the section of City Park surrounding the courts is becoming crowded. Parking pressure, dust and the concentration of activities have raised questions about whether the popularity of pickleball is outgrowing that particular site.
Walsh Field remains among the areas being evaluated for the longer term. Earlier discussions also considered other locations within City Park, along with fencing, sound barriers and court construction costs. No final relocation decision has been announced, and the working group is continuing to examine options for the short, medium and long term.
The city’s emerging approach therefore combines several measures: Keep the reduced hours and nighttime controls already put in place, use quieter equipment where practical, add a temporary alternative at the YMCA, explore noise mitigation at City Park and continue studying whether a different permanent location would better serve players and neighbors.
For now, the YMCA arrangement provides immediate breathing room without settling the larger dispute. The quiet-ball test suggests City Park may continue to have a role, but the concerns about noise, congestion and the intensity of use remain part of the discussion.
The Sept. 30 working group meeting will continue that effort. Sanders said every option is being considered with the interests of all participants at the table. The outcome is still uncertain, but the city’s direction is increasingly clear: preserve pickleball in Belfast, reduce its impact on nearby homes and build a solution flexible enough to serve both casual players and the sport’s most dedicated participants.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.