regulating paint ball courses

[ownzone]

Have any of you run into this weird rural use, which I'm researching for a rural county ? As far as I can tell, it's played with messy paintballs (similar to firearms?) on a large tract of rural land. Any idea how it might be regulated -- parking, separation requirements, size of site, buffers, etc.? Would it be equivalent to, say, a gun club?

thanks from a clueless urbanite

 

[Repo Man]

I guess I would make sure that there is a decent sized buffer between the use and any residential or business areas. I would see if the business is planning on undertaking any measures to ensure that unsuspecting hikers/bikers don't wander onto the battlefield. I would treat parking similar to a park use or contact the business owner and find out how many paintballers will be on the field at any given time and go from there.

Paintball Dave's is a local Paintball establishment that has fields out in Woolworth County WI, so you may want to contact that County and see how they regulate the fields.

http://www.paintballdaves.com

 

[Jessie-J]

paintball is so much fun!

I get to go again next friday, I can't wait!

 

[Trail Nazi]

I love paintball too, just don't play with Army Rangers, they tend to make their guns non-regulation play. Did you know that in the state of VA (particularly Fairfax County) paintball guns are illegal, but real guns are permitted in parks? Hey kids, instead of playing paintball, let's use real guns. At least we're allowed to carry them!

 

[Splatt Assassin]

Is this a Paint ball forum?

I'm looking for a paintball forum so I can discuss my hobby with other splatters.

 

[Tranplanner]

I'm looking for a paintball forum so I can discuss my hobby with other splatters.

Uh...only if you're interested in the land use impacts and zoning of these facilities. I'm sure there are much more active paintball forums out there...somewhere!

 

[mgk920]

I don't really see how the impacts or inherant dangers associated with a paintball range would be all that much different from those of your average golf course (a well-driven golf ball can be deadly), although a paintball range might not be quite as 'picturesque'.

Mike

 

[jlindy]

Paint Ball....

I would suggest regulating it as a Special Use Permit for a private recreational facility, similar to an archery club, gun club, etc... in the most rural district the county has. Although, paintballs aren't lethal like bullets or arrows, they tend to alarm those people who are not familiar with the activity. Generally the paint balls will not travel more than a couple hundred feet at best, and at that distance won't have the velocity to even break the outer shell to release the paint. It is an adrenaline rush, so expect yelling, and the guns do make a little bit of noise. If in an agricultural area, I wouldn't worry about a buffer. The size of the field would be limited by the SUP, but will likely be several acres in size.

In regards to parking. I would bases it on the number of courses the petitioner tends to have, or see if they have set a limit themselves to the number of players they would allow at any given time. In addition, see if they will serve refreshments, have a store, etc... Then base it on 1 space per 3 people and whatever the county uses for calculating parking based on square-footage of retail space.

 

[freewaytincan]

Uh...only if you're interested in the land use impacts and zoning of these facilities. I'm sure there are much more active paintball forums out there...somewhere!

LOL-able!!!!!11

 

[giff57]

Archery maybe, but Gun club no. No noise issues.

 

[hankjoe]

I would suggest regulating it as a Special Use Permit for a private recreational facility, similar to an archery club, gun club, etc... in the most rural district the county has.
In regards to parking space.

A current Paint Ball facility plans to operate near a self storage facility, same owner same land. Right now there is some sort of large netting facing the street - very visible from two highways to permit the paint balls from getting to the highway. There is a subdivision across the street on one side and a major highway that is the entrance to the city. Are these large netting screens the usual way to screen this stuff from the public. Are these facilities usually restricted via hours of operation in the special use permit. Personally, the netting is the biggest headache. This is currently in a rural zoning which allows for special use permits. Are there any sorts of restrictions about screening the netting.

Is there anyway to make this less of an eyesore to the community? Because of some unusual circumstances although this facility was issued a special use permit, it's up again for one.

 

[mgk920]

A current Paint Ball facility plans to operate near a self storage facility, same owner same land. Right now there is some sort of large netting facing the street - very visible from two highways to permit the paint balls from getting to the highway. There is a subdivision across the street on one side and a major highway that is the entrance to the city. Are these large netting screens the usual way to screen this stuff from the public. Are these facilities usually restricted via hours of operation in the special use permit. Personally, the netting is the biggest headache. This is currently in a rural zoning which allows for special use permits. Are there any sorts of restrictions about screening the netting.

Is there anyway to make this less of an eyesore to the community? Because of some unusual circumstances although this facility was issued a special use permit, it's up again for one.

I don't know enough about local zoning laws to comment on how they treat such netting, but it appears to me to be very common along the edges of golf driving ranges where there is a street or some other non-golf related use on the adjacent land. One glaring example is/was a driving range just south of the Beltline/Whitney Way interchange in Madison, WI. There are several other such examples here in the Appleton area, too.

Mike