Pickleball War Erupts in Exclusive West Palm Beach Gated Community: ‘The Pickleball People Took Over the Board’

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.

“It’s really an inopportune location,” Payne tells Realtor.com. “They’re going to take one of the open, grassy areas that was available for events, and turn it into this [pickleball] thing with concessions and seating and all that. We’re concerned it will turn into a covered, air-conditioned pickleball building.”

“I’m sure if I was owning a house [next to the courts], I would want to move. It will just be smack, smack, smack all around,” he says of the noise created by balls hitting a hard surface. “And since they want to have tournaments there, there will be far more usage than there is now.”

In 2024, the pickleball committee issued a report citing two real estate agents’ claims that new pickleball courts would increase property values.

But Payne predicts that the popularity of pickleball will go the way of racquetball.

“People built those big, concrete monsters, and now they’re empty,” he says.

Although Payne says that a resident survey revealed over 60% of residents are against the new courts, the board is taking contractor bids on them anyway.

“The pickleball people took over the Board,” he laments.

But the Riverwalk insider who spoke to Realtor.com disagrees that pickleball is the new racquetball, and warns that the community had better get on board with building the new courts before it becomes too expensive.

“Every community is building the hard courts; they add value to the homes,” the insider insists. “To not do it will be a big loss to the community.”

A year-old estimate put the cost of new hard-surface courts at about $340,000, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The rise of pickleball

What explains the seemingly sudden popularity of pickleball, which looks like tennis played with paddles?

“Pickleball has taken America’s neighborhoods by storm,” Florida real estate agent Cara Ameer, of Coldwell Banker, tells Realtor.com.

All of a sudden, the tennis courts that were barely being used have been converted into pickleball and they are getting used now more than ever.

“Many seasoned tennis players have turned to pickleball as they feel it is less wear and tear on their bodies. And for those that haven’t been the most athletic, it has been a more accessible sport.”

And unlike tennis, where you typically have to join a club or facility to play, pickup games can be found in many local parks for free. Additionally, there are professional pickleball leagues fueling the popularity.

And it is a social sport, requiring four people, in two teams—perfect for active adult communities and new amenities-laden developments.

“I know pickleball has become popular the last five years,” Johnny DelPrete of The Exclusive Group at Douglas Elliman in Jupiter, FL, tells Realtor.com. “The only negative I hear on it from a community standpoint is the loud sound from impact going back and forth.”

HOA community wars

Given the amenities that planned communities need to attract residents, more clashes are emerging as residents debate which amenities get upgraded, maintained, or expanded.

“It is very common for HOA communities/co-ops to disagree on capital building expenditures,” says Ameer. “There are different priorities for different people, and while a homeowners association board should be making decisions based on the best interest of the homeowners, politics come into play.”

“There is a lot of politics going on,” agrees the Riverwalk insider.

Ameer notes that South Florida is particularly susceptible to capital fund disagreements because of the huge number of HOA communities, the soaring cost of monthly fees in the wake of the Surfside condo collapse, and the increasingly long list of amenities that communities are expected to offer.

“From over-the-top pools, parks, nature trails, pickleball and tennis courts, community golf courses, clubhouses, and fitness centers, the list of recreational amenities goes on and on,” Ameer says.

All of those amenities cost money, and residents won’t always agree on which ones should take priority.

“It’s controversial,” Ameer says of pickleball. “People either love it or loathe it.”

Realtor.com reached out to Riverwalk for comment.