KIRKWOOD, Mo. – A country club is suing the City of Kirkwood over a dispute involving long-unused pickleball courts, questioning whether certain conditions for opening the courts, including a noise study, violated state laws.

Greenbriar Hills Country Club formally filed a lawsuit Monday against the City of Kirkwood.

The country club seeks a ruling that would allow newly-constructed pickleball courts to open without restrictions currently imposed by Kirkwood. Specifically, it is pushing for a judgment that would declare conditions set by the city as invalid.

In November 2022, Greenbriar Hills submitted plans to build new pickleball courts and expand its main swimming pool to Kirkwood’s City’s Planning & Zoning Commission, which voted to recommend approval. The proposal then advanced to the Kirkwood City Council, which approved it in January 2023 with one key condition: The courts could only open if a post-construction sound study showed compliance with St. Louis County’s noise ordinance.

Greenbriar Hills Country Club proceeded to build the courts, fully aware the courts couldn’t be used for pickleball play unless they passed the sound test.

In October 2023, the study found that noise levels from the pickleball courts exceeded ordinance limits. Now, more than two years after the plan’s approval under that unmet condition, the courts remain unopened.

The lawsuit argues that the rule imposed by the Kirkwood City Council is vague because noise violations may depend on changing ambient conditions.

Furthermore, it alleges that the city bypassed proper legal procedures in a manner that violated Missouri’s zoning laws. The lawsuit says that Kirkwood imposed the condition as a resolution rather than an ordinance, which is subject to a more formal legal process. Greenbriar Hills is challenging whether Kirkwood acted beyond its authority in working around Missouri’s zoning requirements.

Additionally, Greenbriar Hills alleges that the city has unlawfully given power to a private entity to determine noise violations rather than a proper government body like the St. Louis County Department of Health.

The lawsuit seeks a writ of mandamus that addresses the city’s condition and ultimately paves the way for the original plan for the pickleball courts to open.

FOX 2 reached out to a spokesperson with the City of Kirkwood earlier this week for comment, but we have not heard back upon this article’s original time of publication.