Key Points
- Rolling Hills Country Club’s proposed temporary padel court will require a public hearing before Wilton P&Z.
- Town officials said the application must be handled consistently with The Lake Club pickleball case now in litigation.
- Noise concerns and differences between padel and pickleball were central topics during the discussion.
Why It Matters: The decision highlights how ongoing litigation involving The Lake Club is influencing Wilton land use decisions and future recreational court proposals across town.
A proposed temporary padel court at Rolling Hills Country Club will require a public hearing before Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) in order to ensure that it is treated consistently with The Lake Club‘s proposed pickleball courts, which are at the center of ongoing litigation against the town.
Director of Planning and Land Use Management Michael Wrinn told the commissioners attending P&Z’s Tuesday, May 26 meeting that town counsel had recommended they treat the application for a 60-day temporary padel court as a special permit application requiring a public hearing, rather than as a minor change that could be approved without public input.
“We have to be very careful here,” Wrinn told the commissioners.
P&Z is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by The Lake Club over P&Z’s denial last year of a special permit application to resurface an existing tennis court to accommodate two pickleball courts. P&Z denied the application on the grounds that the club had allegedly not complied with the terms of prior special permits, including a cap on club membership at 300 members.
In order to gauge member interest in padel, which Rolling Hills’ Director of Racquets Macie Elliott described as one of the country’s fastest growing sports, the club is proposing to erect a 66-by-33-foot court on one of the club’s existing tennis courts from mid-June to mid-August. The proposed court would feature tempered glass walls, a synthetic turf playing surface and four night-sky-compliant LED lights near the corners that would supplement existing tennis court lighting.
Chris Casiraghi, owner of Reilly Green Mountain Platform Tennis Courts, which would supply and install the padel court, addressed noise concerns similar to those raised by neighbors during P&Z’s public hearings on The Lake Club’s pickleball proposal by explaining that the game uses foam-core paddles that absorb much of the sound of the balls’ impact. The glass walls and turf surface of the court, he said, further reduce the sound of gameplay.
“I think we can demonstrate pretty conclusively that this does not have the same kind of noise associated with pickleball,” Casiraghi said.
“Obviously noise is going to be an issue, and I don’t know how your neighbors would deal with that, but I would recommend strongly that … you approach your neighbors ahead of time, at least the ones that are directly impacted,” Wrinn recommended.
P&Z Chair Ken Hoffman also encouraged the club to submit documentation to the commission showing the difference in noise levels between padel and other racket sports.
In its Superior Court complaint, The Lake Club argued that the decision was “illegal, arbitrary, and in abuse of the discretion vested in the Commission.” P&Z’s attorneys argued that the commission was “under no obligation to render a decision based upon the Club’s arbitrary distinction” between different types of memberships.
Wrinn said that, given the public notice requirements, the soonest that P&Z could schedule a public hearing would likely be Jun. 22.
Disclosure: GOOD Morning Wilton‘s Editor is a member of The Lake Club.
Editor’s note: this story has been updated to clarify that the club referred to in regard to the Superior Court complaint is The Lake Club.