Carmel City Council temporarily bans pickleball with plans for a trial of 'quiet' equipment.

Pickleball is now banned at Forest Hill Park in Carmel, at least temporarily, the Carmel City Council decided on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

They voted 5-0 on an urgency ordinance putting a pause on the sport and asked the staff to come back in November with a regular ordinance that would create a trial of using so-called quiet pickleball equipment, at city expense, and investigate other options for dampening the sound of play.

The Carmel Forest and Beach Commission had recommended limiting play to certain hours and days, but that proved to be a non-starter for the council, which heard from neighbors that even limited play was too much.

Neighbors asked for an outright permanent ban, but councilmembers discussed finding some sort of compromise finding ways to dampen the sharp sounds of plastic balls hitting pickelball paddles.