METHUEN — The high school pickleball courts will remain open for the time being.
Essex Superior Court Judge Kristen Buxton denied on Wednesday a request to temporarily close the courts while a public nuisance lawsuit is ongoing.
The plaintiff, who lives in a neighborhood near the courts, had failed to properly present his complaint to local officials before taking the city to court, Buxton said.
“Failure to make a proper presentment of a claim under the Mass Tort Claims Act is fatal to the plaintiff’s complaint,” she said in a decision citing case law.
The plaintiff, Steven Tarquinio, has said the city didn’t take into account the effect of pickleball noise on the surrounding neighborhood when installing the outdoor courts and has subsequently failed to mitigate the sound.
In his lawsuit, he said noise from the sport has pushed his family indoors, made it difficult to sleep and even had a negative effect on his mental health.
In a filing calling for the injunction to be denied, attorneys said the city has made various successful efforts to reduce the noise, including by limiting the hours of play and requiring the use of quiet paddles at some courts.
Attorneys also argued that closing the courts would deprive residents, particularly youth, of an important recreational opportunity.
Tarquinio’s attorney had argued that closing the courts would only represent an inconvenience.
“Compared to the harm to the Plaintiff in his own home, traveling to other courts to play pickleball is a minor inconvenience,” attorneys said.
The courts were opened in the spring of 2025 as part of a renovation project of an existing tennis court. A petition to keep the courts opened has gained at least 794 people, city attorneys said in their filing.
City Solicitor Paul O’Neill had argued that injunctions were designed to keep the status quo, unless the public interest called for otherwise. Although Tarquinio’s lawsuit contains affidavits from a family member as well as neighbors, he is the only plaintiff, O’Neill said in filings.
The next court date has yet to be set, according to online court records.