Wednesday, December 05, 2012 - Regular Planning ... - Polk County

Staff does not agree with allowing Central Florida Paintball to be open overnight. One of the
arguments made during the original CU 11-05 hearing to allow the paintball field to continue
operation and expand, was that the paintball field brought an economic benefit to Polk County;
users of the facility stay in area hotels and eat at nearby restaurants (see Exhibit 8). In allowing
the paintball field to be open overnight, the applicant wishes to have teams camp on the subject
site. This would take money away from local businesses (hotels and restaurants), and create a
greater likelihood of the neighboring property owners being bothered by noise, as sound travels
farther at night. Also, campers could create a lot of noise in anticipation of a paintball event the
next day or celebrating and unwinding after a day of playing paintball.
The area used for woodsball games was originally shown on the binding site plan for CU 11-05
as being 150 feet from the on-site wetlands. The Level 2 plans were accidentally approved with
less than 50’ between the woodsball course and on-site wetlands. With this modification, the
original 150 foot buffer should return.
Staff has no issues with deleting the condition regarding level 2 plans; however, the applicant
will have to comply with the new conditions as approved by the Planning Commission either
immediately or within three months or the use will have to cease and desist until the conditions
are met (see Condition of Approval #6).
One of the applicant’s goals that can be seen on the site plan, but was not expressly mentioned in
the proposed Conditions of Approval was to be able to relocate the paintball fields and the
parking areas. Because the grass on the paintball fields gets worn down from use, the applicant
wants the ability to move, or rotate, the location of the paintball fields throughout the site. Staff
has no problem with this request as long as that portion of the site along the northern property
line which is adjacent to the area where neighboring property owners ride their horses is not used
for parking or paintball fields. This area should remain vegetated and free of debris of any kind
– trash, used paintballs, etc. This area should also remain free of vehicular parking.
After speaking with the neighboring property owners, staff believes an eight foot (8’) opaque
fence would be the best solution to mitigate the incompatibilities (noise, trash, and the impact of
vehicle parking areas) between the horse riding area and the competitive paintball fields. Staff
performed a site visit on Sunday, October 14, 2012 as teams were using the Central Florida
Paintball fields to train for the world championships that were held at Fantasy of Flight. While
most participants made efforts to break down and stack cardboard boxes, keeping trash in
centralized locations in the parking lots, staff did note that some trash escaped those piles and
made its way to neighboring properties. Another staff member did an impromptu site visit on a
Monday after a weekend of playing paintball and noted at that time that much of the trash had
not yet been cleaned up. Staff believes the requirement of the fencing will aid in keeping trash
from polluting neighboring properties.
Development Review Committee
The Development Review Committee, based on the staff report finds that the proposed request as
conditioned below is consistent with the surrounding land uses and general character of the area;
is consistent with the Polk County Land Development Code and is consistent with the Polk
County Comprehensive Plan.
DRC Findings/Recommendation Page 5 of 23
Level 3/TAV 11/21/2012 9:52 AM CU 11-05M December 5, 2012