A pickleball war has erupted in a gated, waterfront community in West Palm Beach, FL—with each side forming an LLC to duke it out with legal representation. At the center of the war is a disagreement over whether to build six new pickleball courts at Riverwalk of the Palm Beaches. The community already has eight existing courts.
"If you get on the wrong side of pickleballers, they hate you forever," says real estate attorney Joshua Payne, of Pincus & Currier, who is representing the community members who oppose the pickleball courts. "They're so avid, there's no in-between with them."
The trouble with pickleball
Riverwalk of the Palm Beaches is a large community consisting of single-family houses and townhomes with an average price of $537,849, according to Point2Homes.
One three-bedroom, three-bath home with a private pool inside the community is listed for $639,999 with $530 in monthly fees.
The extensive list of amenities includes 13 miles of walking trails, a town center with a marketplace, a car wash, a cafe, and an Italian restaurant, three pools, a library, and a post office.
A couple of years ago, pickleball enthusiasts in the community wanted to build six new courts—in addition to the eight already there. At issue was the clay surface of the current courts, which isn't allowed in tournaments. To rip out the current courts and build over them would be cost-prohibitive, a former Riverwalk resident who still plays pickleball there tells Realtor.com®. So the plan evolved to build new pickleball courts near the tennis courts—but that would mean taking up a significant amount of open space.
Source: https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/pickleball-courts-riverwalk-west-palm-beach/