Fred and Barb Phillips want more peace and quiet in their backyard. Terry Culton wants himself and others to be able to enjoy his favorite hobby.

Here’s the scenario: Culton runs the 7-year-old Splat! Paintball field at 17722 Highway 218 South, next door to the Phillips’ home of 40 plus years.

The Phillips — fed up with the noise — petitioned the planning and zoning department in June on the grounds that Culton did not have the proper permit to run the field as a business, and thus should not be allowed to play.

“It should be out in a wooded area, without a neighbor,” Barb Phillips said. “We’re just plain tired of it.”

The Mower County board on Tuesday awarded some degree of resolution, granting the required permit by a 3-1 vote. The Phillips, of course, would prefer no paintball at all.

That subject was discussed at some length during Tuesday’s meeting, but the board generally agreed that they couldn’t outright restrict Culton from playing paintball on his property.

The question, then, was whether to allow Culton to run his business, even against his neighbor’s wishes.

What was agreed upon with the 3-1 vote was a complex set of regulations. Culton can operate as a business no more than three days a week, and only between 9 a.m. and one hour before sunset.

Easter and Thanksgiving are off limits, and the Phillips can request other quiet days at least two weeks in advance.

Lastly, the board decided five people or less playing paintball constitutes “private use,” which makes it exempt from the operational regulations.

Though Tuesday’s decision means his business will be regulated to some degree, Culton said he was happy with the outcome.

“This was a victory for paintball in Mower County,” he said.

As far as operating without the required permit, Culton said he did so unintentionally because it was his understanding, through former zoning and planning director Daryl Franklin, that he didn’t need one.

When he found out from new director Angie Knish that he did in fact need the conditional use permit, Culton said he was completely understanding and went through all the steps to get it.

Culton said he will abide by all the conditions in his agreement and thinks he can work cooperatively with the Phillips.

“I really don’t hold any animosity toward them,” he said.

The decision was less than ideal for Fred and Barb Phillips. They left the meeting dejected and frustrated, resigned to living near the paintball field and concerned about their property value in years to come — as well as their peace and quiet.

“We just kept hoping it would die out,” Fred Phillips said of the paintball next door. “We figured it would.”