On warm, windy and even rainy nights, pickleballers of all ages gather under the flood lights on outdoor and indoor courts downtown for endless rallies fueled by courtside drink service and food. 

Corbett’s, which opened in August of 2023 as a restaurant and pickleball venue, is open until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

But while local pickleballers enjoy evening access to food and games, some nearby residents aren’t as happy with the set up.

Andrew Carmichael and Connor Lutz live in the nearby Ari on Fourth apartment complex and are circulating a petition calling for Corbett’s to close an hour earlier on both weekdays and weeknights. 

“I can hear it pretty clearly after 8,  and it wakes my son up in his crib,” said Lutz, who has a one year old at home.

He said late nights of outdoor pickleball and drinking at Corbett’s are affecting his son’s sleep.

Carmichael said even “blocks away” from Corbett’s, he can hear rowdy pickleballers in his apartment late into the night.

“People are always spilling out into the parking lot right next to (Corbett’s), super belligerent, really loud, especially in the big groups,” he said.

Their petition, drafted in early March, has about 20 signatures from other residents asking that the business close an hour earlier – 9 p.m. on weeknights and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

But Corbett’s General Manager Kevin Roundtree said he had no knowledge of the petition before being contacted by Arizona Sonoran News and has never been approached by Lutz or Carmichael.

“I’d actually love for them to come in and talk to me about why they are feeling this way, and hopefully we could resolve it,” he said. “I just don’t see how pickleball could be affecting anybody especially when the entire Fourth street stays open until 2 a.m., and that’s a lot louder than us.”

He sees the business as part of the local community, he said. “We have always tried to make it fun and inclusive of everybody in the neighborhood.

He plans to keep Corbett’s hours the same. 

Pickleballers Brendan Chavez and Will Herring, who were playing at Corbett’s on a recent Wednesday night, said they oppose the petition.

“We come out here like once or twice a week, and we don’t even hear any noise from a block away,” Chavez said.

Lutz and Carmichael said they plan to take their petition to the city rather than Corbett’s, but did not respond to questions about why they have not approached the business directly.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.