Miami Beach JCC seeks taller fences and lights for two padel courts on its Pine Tree Drive field

The Miami Beach Jewish Community Center wants to build two padel courts on part of its soccer field at 4221 Pine Tree Drive, and is asking the city’s Design Review Board for variances to put up 14-foot fences and 20-foot lights where the code allows 10 feet for courts in a rear yard, according to the board’s Dec. 10 agenda.

The JCC sits on city-owned land it leases from Miami Beach, between Pine Tree Drive and Indian Creek just north of 41st Street. Its letter of intent says the center has seen strong demand for padel, a racket sport played in a walled court.

What’s proposed

• Two courts in the northeast corner of the property, oriented north to south, replacing part of a soccer field the JCC describes as heavily used.
• Fences up to 14 feet, where the code allows 10. The JCC’s lawyers say padel enclosures need about 3 meters of acrylic topped with 1 meter of metal mesh, and that the side facing the neighbor to the north would be mostly acrylic.
• Lights up to 20 feet, where 10 is allowed, aimed at the playing surface to limit spillover, the letter says.
• Hours: all court play and lighting would end by 8:30 p.m., in line with the center’s current hours.

The neighbors are the Tower Forty One condominium to the south, an undeveloped lot to the north and single-family homes across Pine Tree Drive.

Noise concerns

In its review, city planning staff asked the JCC to move the courts 10 more feet away from the north property line, writing that padel noise is high and has been a concern for neighbors where courts have been proposed elsewhere in the city. The architect’s response says the courts were moved back to 27 feet 6 inches from that line, and the JCC added 5 feet to an existing 13-foot landscape buffer instead of shifting further, because the pool deck to the south leaves no room.

The city’s memo marks it a “Residents Right to Know” item. Separately, the City Commission’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee is scheduled on Nov. 10 to discuss setback rules for padel courts and similar court games, a referral from Commissioner Alex Fernandez.

The Design Review Board meets at 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Drive. The full application, including plans, is on the city’s agenda portal.