Paintball park draws fire

Author: Frank Matys

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Frank Matys

Oro-Medonte resident Gord Ball says a paintball park on Line 7 is an inappropriate use of land in the area.

Monty Childs navigates his vehicle past a series of deep trenches carved from the sandy terrain that is “no-man’s land.”
Dotting the landscape are bunkers, sandbags and guard towers.
An artillery cannon looms in the distance.
“This field here is the adrenalin rush,” says Childs, owner of a sprawling property along Oro-Medonte’s seventh line, home to Horseshoe Valley Paintball.
Since opening to the public in early September, the operation has drawn thrill-seekers eager to test their mettle in a high-energy game Childs likens to chess.
It has also drawn the ire of nearby residents, who say the operation has no place in this rural community.
“I can’t imagine a less compatible land use in this area,” said Gord Ball, a resident of nearby Rowanwood, a Quaker-created co-operative.
Ball and others say the paintball park, currently situated on 17 of the property’s 100-plus acres, violates the site plan agreement that allowed it to operate under the township’s “home occupations” zoning bylaw.
They are asking that council withdraw the approval.
“I don’t think they really understood what they were getting into,” added Vera Cameron-Van Amelsvoort, who lives in the area.
Opponents are additionally troubled that residents were not made aware of plans for the operation prior to the agreement being approved.
“It really was done very secretly,” said Ball, alleging that an outdoor operation of that scale is not envisioned in the bylaw allowing home-based businesses.
According to Mayor Harry Hughes, public notice was not required as there was no rezoning.
“There was certainly no attempt by any member of council or staff to keep it secret,” he added.
Hughes said the application was approved “with very rigid conditions,” including the stipulation that staff review the operation to ensure it adheres to the site plan agreement.
“Staff have done site visits to gather information to determine whether in fact the conditions of the site plan are being adhered to, and whether in fact the paintball operation, if it was to continue, would require a change in zoning,” he added.
The results of that review should be presented to council in the near future, he added.
“This was not a cart blanche acceptance,” Hughes added. “This was acceptance at the initial stage with the notion that there would be a review with checks and balances in place.”
Childs, whose son and son-in-law own the business, stands by the application.
“We know we are within the law,” he said.
Childs said they hope to expand in future, and that doing so could require rezoning to a commercial designation, depending on the scope of the operation.
“Will it become something bigger than this? We hope so. But we are not there yet,” he added.
Cameron-Van Amelsvoort says no mention was made of a plan to build a paintball park when she purchased an adjacent property from Childs earlier this year. Childs says the business was not planned at the time.