Salem Planning Board Approves Pickleball Facility With Quiet-Paddle Noise Conditions

SALEM — July 14, 2026 — Salem, N.H. Planning Board approves indoor-outdoor pickleball facility after months of sound disputes. The board voted 5-1-1 Tuesday to grant a conditional use permit and site plan approval to PR Sports Hooks at LLC for a facility with six indoor and six outdoor courts at 179 Main Street, with Acting Chair Sean Lewis abstaining and member Chuck Sabo dissenting. The central condition requires players on the outdoor courts to use USA Pickleball-certified quiet paddles exclusively, a measure the town's independent consultant, Pickleball Sound Mitigation LLC, called "difficult but possible." Attorney Chris Swiniarski, representing an abutting property trust, called the policy "incredibly naive," telling the board, "there is no way to make it happen, plain and simple." Impact fees for the outdoor courts were prorated to a six-month annual season, yielding $3,681.16 for public safety and $18,590.86 for traffic. The board also unanimously approved a change of use at 21 Keywayton Drive from office to adult education, setting road and public safety impact fees totaling more than $127,000, and continued two other commercial applications — a 14-unit contractor bay at 9 Manor Parkway and a 155,457-square-foot self-storage facility proposed by Bluebird Salem LLC — pending third-party engineering reviews.