Ross council approves sports court at 2 Bellagio Road after agreeing to pickleball rule condition and study quieter surfaces

The Ross Town Council voted unanimously April 4 to approve design review and a Hillside Lot Permit for a 30-by-60 private sports court at 2 Bellagio Road, adding a condition that the court be subject to any future town rules about pickleball.

The court, which staff said will include an 8-foot-high mesh and a 5-foot concrete retaining wall, triggers design review because the work exceeds 50 cubic yards of grading and creates more than 1,000 square feet of impervious surface on a slope staff estimated to be about 36 percent. Staff also advised the council that any nighttime lighting would require a separate use permit and return to the council for approval.

Developer Shadi O’Connor and a project representative, Brad, told the council the court is sited behind the planned primary residence and ADU on a 3.5-acre parcel. They said they adopted suggestions from the design review advisory body — adding wood cladding to the rear wall and additional native screening — and committed to the draft condition making the court subject to future pickleball regulations. “We adopted [the ADR] suggestions without question,” Brad said.

Neighbors voiced strong concerns about noise and loss of tree buffering. Rupert Bondi, who lives on Bellagio, said the canyon amplifies sound and that recent tree removal has reduced the natural sound insulation. “There’s no doubt the noise will echo around the canyon, and impact our house and the other houses on it,” he said, urging the council to require quieter materials if the project is approved.

In response, the developer noted a landscape plan that calls for 150 new plants, trees and shrubs and reaffirmed willingness to investigate quieter surfacing materials. Council members did not make a surface change mandatory but added to the motion a request that the applicant research quieter surface options and coordinate with town staff. The council clarified this research request was not a binding condition: lighting or a change in use would still require separate permits.

The council’s motion, as restated in public, approved Resolution 2411 with the amended Condition 3 (so future pickleball rules would apply) and included the nonbinding request for the applicant to study quieter surface materials. The motion passed on a 5–0 roll call vote.