"I wouldn't be surprised to see a revised plan for pickleball courts to come to the city in the future," the mayor of Indian Wells wrote in the city's December 2025 Mayor's Message. The message explained that the City Council voted down Indian Wells Country Club's first request because certain members felt the club had not communicated well enough with its members, especially the homeowners living closest to the planned courts.
Six months later, the revised plan arrived. On June 15, 2026, the design firm Delawie filed an application on the club's behalf to modify Conditional Use Permit No. 2-90-05 for up to six outdoor pickleball courts at the clubhouse on Club Drive. The court count matches the plan the Council denied 3–2 on May 15, 2025. Most of what surrounds those courts is different, and the changes share a pattern. The first plan relied on a taller wall and evening lights. The second plan relies on rules: which paddle, which ball, which hours, and a reservation for every game.
The Same Six Courts, Side by Side
The city's September 2026 staff report includes a direct comparison. Condensed, it reads like this:
| 2025 proposal | 2026 proposal | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Golf tee area of the driving range | Southwest of the clubhouse, partly in the parking lot and partly on the range's western landscaped edge |
| Zoning | Former Golf Course Overlay | New Golf and Recreation Zone |
| Acoustic barrier | 12 feet, south and east sides | 10 feet, south and east sides |
| Equipment | Standard paddles and balls | Only qualified quiet paddles and balls |
| Lighting | 20-foot court lights for night play | None |
| Hours | 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. | 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Parking | No comparable loss of car stalls | 21 car stalls removed |
| Compliance | No reservation-based monitoring | Reservation system and club monitoring |
The barrier is two feet shorter than in 2025. Everything else in the revision limits how the courts get used. When the first plan went to the Council, it called for eleven 20-foot-tall court lights. Those lights are gone, and so are three hours of evening play.
The Zoning Moved First
In the 2025 hearings, the Council and members of the public raised several concerns. One of them was how to read the old Golf Course Overlay rules. On June 18, 2026, three days after the new application was filed, the City Council adopted Ordinance 770. It repealed the overlay and made the Golf and Recreation Zone the base zone for the clubhouse complex. Section 21.40.030(b)(2) of that zone names pickleball courts as an allowable accessory use with a CUP.
A meeting summary of the May 2026 Council session described the goal as aligning the zoning text with the general plan and clarifying which recreational uses are permitted. For Indian Wells Country Club, the result is that whether pickleball can be allowed here is no longer the open question. The open question is whether this particular layout, with these conditions, fits next to the homes around it.
What the Club Agreed To
The general manager, Dennis Coker, gave the city a signed declaration describing the club's outreach. On July 3, the club sent certified letters with a project package to homeowners and residents within 500 feet. On July 7, a newsletter went to the membership. Through July and August, Coker took phone calls, held Zoom meetings and met people at the site. The concessions that came out of that outreach are now written into the resolution as conditions of approval:
- Approved quiet paddles at all times.
- The 3D Quiet Ball, which the club will supply free so players always have one.
- A 10-foot fence with sound-attenuating material on the east and south sides.
- A mandatory court reservation system to monitor use and compliance.
- No court lighting and no play after dark.
- Play limited to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Five 24-inch-box trees in the seating plaza, plus trees and shrubs along the south and east fencing.
The landscape plan names the plants: Chilean mesquite, about 217 shrubs, Japanese blueberry, red yucca, Thunder Cloud Texas sage and Sierra Apricot yellow bells. The courts would be slate and blue with black vinyl fencing, and the sound blanket would be tan to blend with the mountains and the clubhouse. A 20-foot net along the remaining driving range would keep stray golf balls away from the courts and the parking lot.
Several items on that list, including the paddles, the balls, the hours and the reservations, depend on daily practice rather than construction. That is why the reservation system matters. Staff described it as the tool for checking that members follow the equipment and hours rules.
The 400 Feet That Matter Most
The closest homes are about 400 feet east, on Club Terrace Drive. Iroquois Drive, to the north, is more than 700 feet away. Under the city's noise rules, daytime noise at a residential property line is limited to 55 dBA, and short peaks may not exceed 75 dBA.
The club hired Acoustics Group, Inc., which modeled the revised design with the 10-foot barrier and quiet equipment. Its study projects an average of 44.6 dBA over 30 minutes of continuous play at the nearest home to the east, with a modeled peak of 58.1 dBA. A separate acoustical consultant hired by the city reviewed the study and found no substantive problems with its methods.
The staff report also states the limits of that finding. The consultant acknowledged that the sharp pop of pickleball could still be heard, especially in early morning and late afternoon when background noise is lower. Staff wrote that "compliance with the quantitative metrics of the Noise Ordinance does not mean the pickleball game play will be inaudible." The 8 a.m. start and 5 p.m. cutoff respond to that point directly. They exclude the hours when the study expects the sound to stand out most.
The Parking Lot Is Where the Disagreement Sits Now
Moving the courts off the driving range tee solved one problem and created a new one, because part of the new site is parking. Today the clubhouse complex has 198 car stalls and 125 golf cart stalls. The project would remove one row of 21 car stalls, leaving 177 car stalls and 302 spaces in total. The parking study by Urban Crossroads estimated peak demand at 251 spaces, including four per court for the new courts. Staff noted that many members live nearby and arrive by golf cart, on foot or by bicycle.
A resident's September 18 letter to the city manager challenged those assumptions. It argued that a golf cart stall cannot hold a car. If all of the estimated 246 to 251 spaces of demand required cars, the letter calculated, the remaining 177 car stalls would fall 69 to 74 short. The letter itself called that an illustrative sensitivity check, not a proven shortfall. It also cited membership numbers. The November 2025 study counted 689 members, 516 golf and 173 social. A later newsletter from the general manager reported 798, with 560 golf and 238 lifestyle members, after membership passed 800 in June. The letter further pointed to the club's marketing of weddings and events with cocktail receptions for up to 600 guests.
By the time the agenda was posted, the city had received 10 comment letters. Redacted copies, with responses from the city and the club, are attached to the staff report.
Where Members Play Now, and Where Other Clubs Stand
Members of Indian Wells Country Club already have exclusive access to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which has eight dedicated pickleball courts. Bookings go through the Tennis Garden concierge, and walk-on play is available outside tournament hours. The new courts would be the club's first on its own grounds.
The city's May 2025 staff report called Indian Wells Country Club the only country club within city limits without pickleball courts. For comparison, Toscana Country Club lists 10 dedicated, lighted courts and The Vintage Club lists eight. Desert Horizons' Courts Pavilion has 11, according to the club's planning consultant. If approved, the Indian Wells Country Club courts would close at 5 p.m. with no lighting.
What Happened on September 24, and What Comes Next
The Planning Commission took up the item on Thursday, September 24, 2026. Meeting summaries of the session, which are AI-generated and labeled as such, report a 5–0 vote recommending that the City Council approve the modified CUP. One summary says commissioners added a condition requiring a sign about quiet equipment. A competing motion that would have added four more conditions reportedly got no second. Three club members spoke in support. Marilyn McNeel cited growing participation, Rick Wad urged equal standards across clubs, and Kim Temple said the barriers and landscaping addressed earlier concerns. The full hearing is on the city's video of the meeting.
The Commission's design review approval is the final city sign-off on the look of the courts and the landscaping. The permit is a separate decision. The resolution states that it is only a recommendation and that only the City Council can approve the modification. The same path played out the first time. The Commission recommended approval on December 12, 2024, and the Council denied the plan five months later. The city calendar shows a regular Council meeting on October 15, 2026. The city's posted agendas still end with September meetings, though, and the most recent Council agenda listed is September 17, so no Council hearing on the courts has been noticed yet. Residents who want to follow the hearing can watch the city's current and future agendas page for the notice.
Whatever the Council decides, the conditions attached to a CUP like this one affect the property around it for years. They include hours, equipment rules, parking counts and who enforces each of them. When those terms touch a home you own or are thinking about, Kimberly Oleson can read the permit, the club rules and the HOA documents with you, with an attorney's attention to what they actually commit the club to. Work with Kimberly.
