About Sandy Springs reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2025)
24 | OCTOBER 2025 ROUGHDRAFT.NEWS City of Tucker -L the be 0,0 Atwhis, me - swi.ow on GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION TUCKER TOWN GREEN 4226 Railroad Ave, Tucker, GA 30084 NOVEMBER 14, 4-7 p.m. Live Music, Food, Drinks and more! tuckerga.gov Tucker staff slams door on TRC pickleball bid By Cathy Cobbs In yet another surprise twist, the Tucker City Council at its Sept. 22 meeting voted 6-1 to kill the bid process for a 12-court pickleball complex at Tucker Recreation Center — but not for the reasons that have bitterly divided the community. Mayor Frank Auman made the motion after the panel listened to a two- hour presentation made by representatives from Pickleball Sound Mitigation Consulting, who had been hired to do a study about the effects of pickleball noise at Henderson and Rosenfeld Parks, as well as the Tucker Recreation Center. The study, among other recommendations, said the installation of 12- or 14-foot barriers around the TRC courts would effectively reduce sound levels emanating from courts to 52 decibels. A surprise recommendation After the presentation from PSMC’s Dale Van Scoyk and Braxton Boren, Tucker Parks and Recreation Director Rip Robertson told the council that “staff is recommending not moving forward with this project.” “The PSM recommendation would eliminate any sidelines, creating a safety liability issue for the city,” Robertson said. Auman clarified Robertson’s remarks, saying “even if sound mitigation was sufficient, the parks department doesn’t want it, at whatever price, for safety and liability issues,” which Robertson affirmed. The measure passed 6-1, with Council Member Vinh Nguyen the lone dissenting vote. Nguyen, who spoke after the presentation and before the vote, said he believed that the “safety situation is a little overblown.” He also said while he respected the viewpoint of the Morgan Road neighbors, who have claimed the noise from the courts would disrupt their lives and well- being, he didn’t think that “it would have affected them.” He also angered attendees after he asked the room to be silent for a minute, and then rapped his knuckles on a desk, and said “that is 50 decibels, [and the sound] once every couple of minutes — that’s what we are dealing with.” Rebecca Gross, representing residents who opposed the complex, said the “6-1 vote to pull the directive, from the June 9 meeting to city manager, to put the May 2025 design out to bid was a critical and important step in healing the division caused by this controversial proposal. “For that we are grateful. Tucker is grateful,” Gross said. “We look forward to Tucker meeting the growing demand for pickleball courts in a fiscally responsible manner that poses ZERO threat to the quality of life of any resident or our neighborhoods.” Study: 12- to 14-foot sound barriers needed at TRC In its 68-page report regarding the 12-court plan at the TRC, PSMC said if no barriers were put in place, “the raw pickleball sound emitted by the courts is predicted to exceed 60 dBA [decibels] at the northern residences, and to reach higher noise levels to the south.” “The 10’ northern barriers in the May 2025 plans would mitigate noise from some court positions but leave direct sound paths from other positions on the courts, particularly to the residential and commercial properties to the east, where noise levels are predicted to remain well above the target limit,” the report said. Even erecting a 12-foot barrier, which would cut off sound to the east and west of the courts, sounds would still exceed the target limit of 52 decibels by 1-2 decibels. The report recommended fully enclosing the east court with 12-foot barriers on all sides, increasing the height of the center court’s northern barrier to 14 feet, reducing the number of courts on the northern dual-use tennis court and rotating their orientation by 90 degrees. However, while the changes will reduce levels to the north and south, the report predicted it would increase levels to the east by six decibels. Henderson Park may be an option Regarding Henderson Park, where the city is evaluating the conversion of four existing tennis courts into dual-use courts for both pickleball and tennis, the proposed area is located at least 300 feet from existing homes with no direct line of sight from the courts to the homes. “A buffer of mature trees and vegetation separates the residences from the racquet/paddle court area, which is situated 30’ to 75’ higher in elevation than the surrounding homes,” the study said. The footprint area of four tennis courts would comfortably support play on up to 12 pickleball courts, while still keeping the tennis nets in place, it said. “When adjusted for elevations, directionality factors, and other parameters, the modeling software predicts that maximum sound levels will be at or below the conservative target limit of 50 dBA without the addition of sound mitigation barriers or other attenuation measures for any or all of the planned courts,” the PSMC study said. Consultants say Rosenfeld Park ‘not the best place’ for courts In regard to Rosenfeld Park, where renovations to four existing tennis courts
