Rezoning for Town of Watertown paintball site denied
By Steve Sharp
steves@wdtimes.com
JEFFERSON — Despite recommendation for approval from the Watertown Town Board, the five-member Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Committee has denied a rezoning of a 31.6-acre property in the town of Watertown that would have allowed a potential buyer of the property to create a paintball business at the site.
The owner of the property is Loeb and Company and, according to the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Department’s Interim Director Matt Zangl, the land in question exists near the town of Watertown’s town hall, just south of N8205 High Road. The majority of the site’s 31.6 acres is wetland and this was, in part, why the rezoning was denied.
According to Zangl, the potential buyer of the property, Kurt Pfluger, had been petitioning the county committee for a reclassification of the parcel from A-1 to A-2, the latter of which would have allowed for an agricultural and rural business zoning. A conditional use permit was also denied.
In addition to concerns about the safety of the wetland with a paintball business nearby -- the committee was worried paint ballers might encroach on the wetland -- the committee denied the rezoning because of its members’ concerns about traffic in the area and access to Ebenezer Road.
“I think it’s ‘case closed’ for now on the paintball business,” Zangl told the Daily Times, adding Pfluger, may be looking at other sites in the area to create a paintball establishment.
The county planning and zoning committee is comprised of members Greg David, George Jaeckel, Steve Nass, Don Reese and Amy Rinard.