Battle over paintball field in court

Environmentalists and civic leaders believe shuttering a paintball field in a Coram nature preserve is a no-brainer -- taxpayers paid more than $8 million for land now pockmarked with paint, they say.

But patrons of Cousins Paintball on Route 112 said closing the two-decades-old paintball course would take away a facility pivotal for the growth of the game nationally. Moreover, several paintballers note, the players have been unfairly accused of spoiling the 80-acre nature preserve, which they believe is the ideal venue for their passion.

The squabble has led to a court battle between Brookhaven Town and Cousins Paintball over the town's attempt to evict the company. The case returns to Sixth District Court in Patchogue on April 6.

Dean Del Prete, one of Cousins' presidents, and town Supervisor Mark Lesko said the town and firm are working together to find a more suitable location.

Councilwoman Connie Kepert, who represents the area, said if Cousins is willing to move "they should be gone by now." Activists such as Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, said Cousins continues to damage the preserve while the case drags on. "It's a moonscape. It's been a terrible abuse of the parcel," Amper said. "There was no justification whatsoever for allowing them to stay."

Del Prete disagreed. "It's the perfect use for this area. It's recreational, it's passive, it doesn't hurt the environment," he said.

Environmentalists contend the paint is toxic and the playing of the game destroys plants. Paintball players deny that, and say the paint, with its fish-oil base, dissolves with the rain.

Brookhaven bought the 80-acre site in 2007 to add to the 500-acre environmental area called the Overton Preserve, which includes woodlands, ponds and fields purchased by the town and Suffolk County and is home to state-endangered tiger salamanders.

Cousins Paintball has used the site for about 20 years, said its attorney, Dan Deegan of Uniondale. The company has paid rent to the town -- most recently $8,000 a month -- since the town bought the property, Brookhaven officials said.

Activists have pushed for more than two years for the town to evict Cousins, and the board voted last year to do so.

The course is "one of the places that helped grow the sport in the 1990s," said John Pennino, owner of Island Paintball Supplies in West Babylon.

The field also hosts charity events and is scheduled in May to host Big Game 2011, one of the most-anticipated paintball events of the year nationally.

"You're talking about the foundation of paintball in the Northeast with that field," Pennino said. "It'd be a big-time shame if it didn't work out."

Lesko agreed the field is "a destination" for paintball players, but added that "all the parties acknowledged that they need to move."

The website for Big Game 2011 promises 2,000 players, a "real helicopter" and "multiple tanks [wreaking] havoc on the field."

For Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment, those are good reasons to close the facility.

"The word absurd comes to mind. Bizarre," she said. "We don't use preserves for toxic recreational activities. In Brookhaven, apparently, they do."