[sqyire]

http://www.palmbeach...me-2107699.html


PALM SPRINGS — Mary Johnson and her husband, Kenny, spent 26 years living peacefully and happily in a one-story, wood-frame home on the outskirts of Palm Springs.

The past three years have been a nightmare.

Since 2008, when Palm Springs approved the construction of a paintball facility bordering their home on Willow Road, the Johnsons have been living with noise and debris from flying paintballs.

"Our house is being plastered, and it's not fair," said Mary Johnson, 57.

Each weekend, Johnson said, she and her husband are subjected to constant noise from the Spent Paintball facility, which regularly hosts paintball games, tournaments and private parties. They also spend a significant amount of time cleaning up paintball damage to their home, cars, pool and plants.

A 10-foot wall, a 10-foot screen and a mesh roof that covers a portion of the north paintball field have not kept the paintballs away, the couple said. The south paintball field no longer is in use.

"I have to get out and clean it immediately," Johnson said of the paintball residue. "If it dries on the cars, it ruins the paint. "

The Johnsons, who fought unsuccessfully to halt construction of the paintball facility more than three years ago, voice their concerns regularly to Palm Springs officials, including Land Development Director Bette Lowe; county code enforcement officials and commission members; the county health department; Spent Paintball owner Mike Ivancevic; and police. The Johnson home is in unincorporated Palm Beach County, while the paintball field is in Palm Springs.

But little has been done other than getting the roof built last year, Johnson said. Ivancevic built the roof himself, she said, and it offers little protection from flying paintballs, which have torn holes in it as well as the screen behind it.

"I have made no progress," Johnson said. "My husband thinks I'm barking up the wrong tree. But this is our dream home that we built here. I really want my peace and quiet back. I want my lifestyle back."

A civil lawsuit might be the Johnsons' only remaining option, but they say they don't have the money to file one.

Ivancevic declined to comment, and Lowe did not return a phone call.

[XGC_Cheevo]

The mesh roof over the field doesn't stop the paint? Seems more like vandalism than accidental fire. It takes a good angle of fire to get over a 10 ft wall.

[andrewthewookie]

There's a regular wall, a screen wall, and a mesh roof? It's hard to shoot over the screens without a roof, let alone when you're entirely closed in. Plus, from reading some of the comments on that news story, it appears that the couple isn't the most liked in the neighborhood, and it sounds like they complain about everything.

[PeanutWing]

[Eskimo]

i'd love to see a picture of the area. to see the distance between the mesh wall, their home.
maybe a solution could be made

[andrewthewookie]

It's not so much the people who are complaining that bug me, because they're probably looking form something to complain about. It's the fact that the reporter doesn't even check to see if any of what they claim is possible. For instance, there's a picture on the story with the caption "Protective netting around Spent Paintball's field hasn't worked as well as hoped, as shown by the hole in the netting." Clearly the reporter has never actually seen a paintball game before.

Spoiler

This post has been edited by andrewthewookie: 18 January 2012 - 01:47 PM

[sagestylerpb]

Double up the nets that border their land.

[misterkyle]

c'mon it takes two seconds to clean...stop bitching

[brian23]

I play at Spent. It's all the noobs that want to see what happens (when they shoot over the netting). The (homeowners) need to get over it, or Spent needs to net the top.

This post has been edited by brian23: 18 January 2012 - 03:21 PM

[sticktodrum]

brian23, on 18 January 2012 - 02:51 PM, said:

i go to spent its all the noobs that want to see wat happens they need to get over it or spent needs to net the top

I can't even begin to decipher what you just said.

[Rotozip2]

sticktodrum, on 18 January 2012 - 02:56 PM, said:

brian23, on 18 January 2012 - 02:51 PM, said:

i go to spent its all the noobs that want to see wat happens they need to get over it or spent needs to net the top

I can't even begin to decipher what you just said.

Neither can I.

This post has been edited by Rotozip2: 18 January 2012 - 02:57 PM

[andrewthewookie]

brian23, on 18 January 2012 - 02:51 PM, said:

I play at Spent. It's all the noobs that want to see what happens (when they shoot over the netting). The (homeowners) need to get over it, or Spent needs to net the top.

I'm going to assume that's what you meant. As for your last statement, they already have netting over the top, which leads me to wonder if you do play at spent.

[brian23]

andrewthewookie, on 18 January 2012 - 03:11 PM, said:

brian23, on 18 January 2012 - 02:51 PM, said:

I play at Spent. It's all the noobs that want to see what happens (when they shoot over the netting). The (homeowners) need to get over it, or Spent needs to net the top.

I'm going to assume that's what you meant. As for your last statement, they already have netting over the top, which leads me to wonder if you do play at spent.

they have half of netting on the top the rest is open

[andrewthewookie]

Ah, I see. From the Google street view, It shows netting over the field. I just assumed it was over the whole field.

This post has been edited by andrewthewookie: 18 January 2012 - 03:21 PM

[brian23]

andrewthewookie, on 18 January 2012 - 03:21 PM, said:

Ah, I see. From the Google street view, It shows netting over the field, I just assumed it was over the whole field.

ya its only half and if there are holes they dont close them up

[tacticool]

Did anyone notice it said that the paintballs broke her window? As far as i know even a 300fps shot over a wall, arcing too boot, would never have enough force to break a window. I think they need to just accept the point that they have no legal case here what so ever...

[Kevin]

PeanutWing, on 18 January 2012 - 01:25 PM, said:

totally.

[russc]

Looking at the google street view, I have to say it was a stupid idea to allow a paintball field to build in a residential area. I'd be pissed about the noise if that were my home, much less paintballs landing on my property. It's a badly planned location.

Reading the comments though, it sounds like they are in an unincorporated area of the county, so there really isn't any oversight or recourse.

This post has been edited by russc: 20 January 2012 - 02:54 PM

[SNAKESNIPER]

Obviously none of you are homeowners.

If I paid my life savings for my dream home, you can bet I'd be pissed off if paintballs were being shot at it and my cars.

Granted, they do sound like a couple of assholes, but put yourself in their shoes. I realize that's hard to do when you've never seen five figures in your own bank account before....

[sameagol26]

They could always just put up a bit more netting.