FTF Field Closing
 

This next game at FTF Nov 15 will be the last game at FTF

The regional Municipality of Halton is expanding the prohibited area covered by their firearms bylaw effective December 15 2009

FTF will be within the prohibited area (just )

Fines for contravening the By law are ... not less than $500 and not more than $100 000.00 .. and the owner is liable to pay fines for persons committing the offense with their knowledge.

so... thats it ... it's over FTF will close for Airsoft after OP Smash and Grab Nov 15.

Damn i wanted to go out there for one of your milsims sometime : (

Aw, man FTF was goooood.
I was really hoping to play there again.

Sorry to hear Brian.

That's terrible news. After all the work which was put in to get it where it is. Such a waste.

That's all we need...one less amazing venue to play airsoft.

Lets make the last OP there count!

$*#@...No words to describe my disappointment!! Just $@#%

Very mad with this! Such a great field and so close to home... Looking forward to the last game there, see you next weekend!

I'm sorry to hear that. See you at smash and grab

Tys

Sorry to hear Brian. At least we will be sending the field off appropriately at smash and grab.

If you really want to stay open there are a couple things you could try.

Most importantly, present yourself to city hall as a business owner(try using paintball as your base argument(it seems to be more socially acceptable and I know why but that is a different story)) with a legitimate concern. Next-ask for an exemption for your business. This will show if you were targeted with this new law. It only takes one small minded councillor with a grudge to convince his peers and there you have it, a new stupid by-law.

If it is a grudge, then it needs to be exposed to the public. Then you may get an exemption. If it is not a grudge then they can prove it by giving an exemption. If your land is not producing as much tax revenue as they would like then they may, indeed, have their eye on you.

Good luck. Fight it if you have to. These petty municipal officials need to be curtailed before they get a feel for abuse of power. That is what makes this a great political system in this country. The people can show the gov't what is right ...sometimes...

What exactly does this bylaw state?

From my understanding the bylaw changes are not because of FTF so for the players reacting like this is an attack on Brian, they should probably stop and pause before hitting the reply button. Paintball and bow hunting are also included in this ammendment. The bylaw is not prohibiting the activities, just where the proximity to certain other types of zoning (residential, etc). It is sad to see the loss of FTF because it was a great field in close proximity to Toronto, Hamilton, guelph and the tricity areas. I can hope that Brian finds another venue in the near future so that we can continue to frequent a professional airsoft friendly enviroment.

Im sorry to hear that Brian, I really loved your field.
This will be a loss to the entire community in ontario.

My hopes go out that an exception for this property can be made.

Wow, what a turn of events. I'm glad that I finally did make it out to FTF for Z4 and had hoped to enjoy more games there. Really sorry to hear this go down Brian.

Sorry to hear it has come to this, Brian. A great field indeed. It will be missed by the community. I'm glad I can be part of the last game there. See you next week.

Awww really hate to hear this, I'd hoped to have the privelege to play at this field, but it looks like I won't.

Very sad news indeed. What a waste!

My first and last to this game. :(

Aw man, I had really hoped to hit FTF once I got my full license. Well that'll never happen. Brian, any hopes of finding another similar haunt? I keep hearing about how awesome your outdoor games are.

Sorry to hear about the news. The field has served a lot of good memories to the GTA players.

I am sure that there will be a venue for us to hit in the future.

Remember that the venue is only half of a good game, but it is also the Organizer(s) and the players that makes the game.

Not worried one bit...

Good Luck!

Cheers,
Stryker

This action is not against me or FTF .. it is simply an expansion of the municipality borders for controlled activities. When I started FTF I was warned by the By-law officer that this would happen eventually ..

I just hoped that I would get another season before it did.

So Brian are you going to sell the land, and buy somewhere else?

Not so easy... the land has been for sale for a long time... but being in the Green belt but outside of Acton proper... no development is permitted, at this time

The land is locked up... for now... but in time .. it will be very valuable.. current price 12 million... wanna buy?

halton region has had these plans on the books for a while. if i remember correctly its quite large and covers a far spread of what is predominantly farmland around acton. its supposed to be part of the greenbelt program. dont get me started on the greenbelt.

still shitty to hear.

guess i need to pick up the slack next year

Yup... get ready to host some serious MILSIM next season buddy

damn this was my new favorite field, it's beautiful there!

No way to fight this at all eh? suppose if there was you'd be on it.

itsa shame.

Can't fight progress ... you've got to build bypasses!!

They had public consultation.. which I did not attend... my ability to continue to play silly bugger on the land I'm sure would not put a crack in the "public safety" argument.

anyway I'm on the lookout for a new place... I have access to 170 acres of trailed bushland .. but.. the land is located near Brockville a bit of a hike..

be intersting if you found a place that combined an outdoor and indoor arena into on field never realy heard of this being done.

Land with multiple abandoned houses ?

You'd have to go in with a shotgun every other week and clear out the hobos and hippy communes that would pop up.

haha hobohunting .

or put up good high fences with locked gates, that solves the problem of people accidentally wandering into a game and will deter people from taking refuge in your buildings.

EDIT : it would cost more but it would solve a few problems, so it may be worth it.

screw tall fences. electric fences are the way to go. hahaha

ya, I was thinking electrified fences with razer wire on top of them, but both of those are illegal as far as I am aware.

i see it on fences all the time unless your thinking of the circcular versioon i see it as angled at the top with strrips of barbed wire at the top

ya, that is barbed wire, razerwire is much more vicious.
does anyone know the legalities on how high you can make a fence, if you can put barbed wire onto it, and what the legalities about being electrified are?

and how is that relevant to this thread? Take your pointless jabbering elsewhere.

I'm sorry, I was making a suggestion to how another feild could be improved to make protection of the public easier and got somewhat off the main topic.
I agree with what venture said, go to the city and state that this will disrupt the ability of your business to run, and you would like to get an exemption if possible.

pretty sure under halton bylaw you need a fixed, freestanding building on the property to classify as a buisiness. dont think brian has one at the field.

And I dont see how he could state that as a source of income either. Isn't that the point of being a "business"? Then he would have to keep the paperwork involved, then include that in his taxes. I dont really see that as a viable option.

And can't build one due to green belt restrictions...

I'm pooched .. land was never zoned for commercial use, it's recreational/ agricultural..

Technically I could never run a business on it ... but I would be the only one breaking the bylaw... if I did... with the firearm prohibition .. every player is at risk.. so i'ts just not worth it.

No I claim income from Games .. and from training I do as business income.. and write off the expense of all my guns ans gear as a business expense

most years I break even... last year I had a small loss .. this year .. with all the stuff I have "invested in" for my business ... it may be a loss this year again

I'm just totaly bumed out over this....this will be my first and last time there...now I'll have to explain to my wife why i'll have to leave an hour earlier to go to games.

What a great run, Brian - some really excellent games over the many years there. Thank you for all your efforts in providing this. Certainly all good things come to an end - fortunately most of us all have souveniers of a good thing.

End of an era. I've only attended a couple games at FTF, back when it was EOTEC, but enjoyed them tremendously. Thanks so much for the field and dedication to the game, and Canadian community Brian. I take solace in the fact that the closing of the field will leave you with more free time, less debt and fewer nights on the couch...until you find another one.

I second the statements of loss and sadness. I made it out to Z4, and I'll be there for FTF, but I wish I could go back again. It's a great field, and the wild turkey things that live in trees will be missed.

Hey, what's going to happen to all the displaced Ewoks from the village? Oh won't someone think of the Ewoks?!

Fuck those wild turkeys that live in the trees, they scared the shit and piss out of me during Z4!
Hahahaha, but there are some great memories from that game.

FTF, will be missed.

yeah great memories, like the time I crawled on my hands and knees to set up an ambush with some of the blackbear only to find myself crawling in deer poo and to make matter worse I was outgunned by an OPFOR team hunkering in a bunker like 10 to 1

Sorry to hear about the field Brian i was hoping to make my first trip there this summer :(

I just heard, haven't read all, just wanted to say that this is a true loss, really sorry to hear this.
it has probably already been asked, but, is there another place you can move to that is outside this area ?
if you are looking, we here all wish the best.

Rest Assured
 

FTF Milsim games will be back next season..

and not far from where we were..

Down .. but not out

NICE!

Y'know, it's tough to fight City Hall when they're hell-bent on something...even if that something includes bastardizing the various definitions of a "firearm" as stated in C-46, S.84.(1-3) in order to further their cause. Case in point, they borrowed only part of S.84 for their definition without considering the rest and added their own "extras":

Excerpt from By-law page, emphasis added where applicable...

The short title of this By-law is the Discharge of Firearms By-law.
PART 1 DEFINITIONS

1. In this By-law:

• Bow means a crossbow, longbow, compound bow, re-curve bow, or any class thereof;
• Council means the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Halton Hills;
• Firearm means a barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged
  and that is capable of causing bodily injury or death, and includes air gun, spring-gun, pellet gun or paint ball gun;

Nowhere in the Criminal Code of Canada does it state that a "firearm" is an air gun, spring-gun, pellet gun or paint ball gun. This is simply the City deciding for itself what is or isn't according to their own (extremely) broad definition. Too bad really as a field like FTF didn't pose any measurable, "...Threat to public safety.", which is what Halton's expanded firearms prohibition was all about. It was meant to deal with complaints regarding the annual deer hunt as well as nuisance/varmint hunting by farmers. Somehow, I don't think an otherwise secluded woodland full of well-behaved airsofters was even on their radar at the time.

I suppose it's far too late now to change anything but as Brian said, at least there will be more MilSim next year at other locations look forward to.

R.I.P FTF http://www.airsoftcanada.com/images/...pc01_salut.gif


'Fly

good to hear.
:)