First Posted: 2/20/2015
LIMA — The city of Lima could be on its way to getting a paintball and laser tag facility, thanks to efforts by local residents Ed and Sandy Monfort.
The Monforts recently bought several city lots, including 535 W. Spring St., home to a former branch of Frank’s Car Wash. In a letter to the city’s Community Development Commission, Ed Monfort outlined his vision for a recreational facility that would include paintball and laser tag, two activities not available in Lima.
“When my son wanted to go paintballing for his bachelor party, the closest venue was Columbus,” Monfort wrote. “When we looked at the neighborhood, we believed the renovation of the building could not only increase the value of the neighborhood but enhance the civic pride in the area.”
The parcel is zoned as a B-I business district, which, according to the city’s zoning code, allows for a bowling alley as a recreational facility. The B-II code allows for a pool room or skating rink. However, there is no zoning code allowing for paintball or laser tag.
To that end, Lima City Council will receive a petition to amend the city’s zoning code to allow for a wider variety of commercial recreation uses in the B-I and/or B-II business districts at today’s council meeting. The city’s law department has suggested changing the zone to allow for “commercial recreation,” which, according to an email from law director Tony Geiger, “shall mean a business, group of buildings or outdoor facilities used for recreational purposes and operated as a business and open to the public for a fee, including … arcades, paintball and laser tag and similar activities.”
In a letter sent to the council by community development director Amy Sackman Odum, she expressed the hope that this change in the zoning code will help the city keep up with the times in terms of recreational opportunities.
“This change is intended to secure an update to the existing code to include common recreational uses that did not exist or were not common when the code was adopted,” she wrote.
Lima City Council will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Lima Municipal Building.
