Medicine Hat Rifle Range closure

DLab · #1 03-13-2022, 01:27 PM

City Council is considering a Bylaw to rezone the area containing the Rifle club, the Drag strip, the Speedway ,Motocross track and the RC flying club to Heavy Industrial. If passed this Bylaw would be the demise of these recreational facility's in the very near future.
We 5 Clubs have formed a coalition to ask Her Worship the Mayor and Members of City Council to re-consider.

We need Residents of Medicine Hat and the surrounding area, especially Members of these Clubs to voice their feelings and opinions against this move by contacting either by email, written letter or direct contact to City Hall.
We are finalizing a draft letter that can be used by everyone to send in to the appropriate contacts at City Hall.
The above link contains contact info. I will post more in the next few days concerning this action.
The Public consultation meeting is done. The next Council meeting on Mar. 21 needs the Council Chambers to be FULL of people who oppose this.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Thank You.
D. Labadie
Vice President
Medicine Hat rifle and Revolver

270person · #2 03-13-2022, 02:08 PM

That stinks. It's a very nice facility. Municipalities choose to follow the big tax opportunities and land use by ranges, etc are easy pickings when it comes to shutdowns. We're a minority and one it's difficult to garner public support for outside of members. Trudeaus blatant BS and irresponsible use of public funds to support his mandate these days just makes it harder.

Hopefully you have some well known members in every club potentially affected, that contribute big $$ to the civic coffers in other sectors, that can put some pressure on the city.

I hope the best for your members.

freeride · #3 03-13-2022, 02:09 PM

It's good there are a lot of other clubs involved too, just a shooting range and it would be gone.

fordtruckin · #4 03-13-2022, 03:01 PM

You seriously call the mayor “her worship”?

spoiledsaskhunter · #5 03-13-2022, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

You seriously call the mayor “her worship”?

probably to try and set a tone of decent discussion on the matter. calling her 'an old skank', or some other insulting term wouldn't be the way toward a cordial discourse

sitting outside city hall honking horns probably wouldn't work either.

Ackleyman · #6 03-13-2022, 03:20 PM

Who owns the land....

Bushrat · #7 03-13-2022, 03:31 PM

Why don't they rezone a golf club to industrial instead...oh yeah, probably all the counsellors are golfers..

Cement Bench · #8 03-13-2022, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

You seriously call the mayor “her worship”?

yes sir that is what she is called by the customs in the law

270person · #9 03-13-2022, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

You seriously call the mayor “her worship”?

Some do I guess. Same thing we call Trudeau.

Handed down British decorum. Gets better results than You underworked, overpaid, unqualified to do anything, civil servant jacka*s

fordtruckin · #10 03-13-2022, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cement Bench

yes sir that is what she is called by the customs in the law

Hmm never heard that before. I could see his or her excellency or mr/madam mayor but her worship sounds a bit ridiculous….

DLab · #11 03-13-2022, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ackleyman

Who owns the land....

The Clubs all lease the land from the City, this would have a much different tone if we each owned the respective properties.
This is one of the options we are putting forward to Council though.
And yes, when addressing the Mayor in Chamber that is the correct terminology used, Her/His Worship, in this case Her Worship Linnsie Clark.
Here's the direct link from the above ad containing the contact info for Council and Mayor.

https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/govern...l-members.aspx

urban rednek · #12 03-13-2022, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLab

City Council is considering a Bylaw to rezone the area containing the Rifle club, the Drag strip, the Speedway ,Motocross track and the RC flying club to Heavy Industrial. If passed this Bylaw would be the demise of these recreational facility's in the very near future.
We 5 Clubs have formed a coalition to ask Her Worship the Mayor and Members of City Council to re-consider.

Looking at Google maps, it appears that these clubs are located on an approximately 80 acre parcel, along with a Bitcoin mining operation and a couple oilfield facilities.
Do the clubs own or lease the land? If they lease, who owns the land? This may be a case of the land owner deciding it is time to sell and get some big $$/acre out of that 1/4 section. Rezoning it as heavy industrial increases the value exponentially and will eventually provide a much larger tax revenue to the city.
If that is what you are up against, similar situations in other municipalities indicate the decision is a foregone conclusion and nothing you do will change the outcome. They did the same thing in SE Calgary several years ago.

If the clubs own the land, there is a slim chance you can negotiate with the city council to find an equitable solution. Even if you do, expect to pay more to continue enjoying your own facilities.

ETA- I see you posted while I was typing. You lease the land from the city, they want that property to generate more money and more jobs. Best start looking for another location while you are fighting them on this.

FishOutOfWater · #13 03-14-2022, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLab

The Clubs all lease the land from the City, this would have a much different tone if we each owned the respective properties.
This is one of the options we are putting forward to Council though.
And yes, when addressing the Mayor in Chamber that is the correct terminology used, Her/His Worship, in this case Her Worship Linnsie Clark.
Here's the direct link from the above ad containing the contact info for Council and Mayor.

https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/govern...l-members.aspx

Good luck with your attempt to change their minds, but as Urban Redneck mentioned the rezoning is likely a foregone conclusion at this point. Calgary did the same with Race City and the youth motorsports track in the SE. The city expanded the landfill nextdoor and put in a recycling facility. It completely killed motorsports in the area, it was a road course and 1/4 mile dragstrip - plus the small youth track for gocarts and pitbikes.

Ackleyman · #14 03-14-2022, 10:11 AM

Five clubs that all offer great recreation / hobbies.
Albertans have a passion for the motor sports , shooting etc.
They have Go Fund me for lotsa BS these days.
Your cause is not BS , you should not be robbed of it.
Go fund me...?? Help buy the land ? I would donate and I bet
many others would also.
And i'm not real high on Go Fund me but maybe it could be done ?

HeavyD111 · #15 03-14-2022, 10:39 AM

Have a friend that lives there, he says the city is heading down a bad path with the present leadership..I ask how so, he says just wait and it will become obvious.

This thread is a great start to enlightenment. Good luck, Hatters, you will need it.

DLab · #16 03-14-2022, 11:05 AM

I'll post more as we go.
The area in question involves 6 quarter sections, approximately 720 acre parcel, we are located at the northern end. The lands the Clubs occupy aren't all that's proposed for rezoning.

There are no suitable relocation sites within reasonable distance to the city for most of these Clubs, not to mention the cost.
Options have been mentioned by Councillors, we are exploring those now.

Those that have stated it's already a foregone conclusion, that may well be, but we can't just lay down.
Appreciate the support though.

Cement Bench · #17 03-14-2022, 11:11 AM

make the city get you a new place with the provinces help

otherwise SUE THEM FOR LOSS OF HOBBY

easy easy if you hire a lawyer with balls

DLab · #18 03-14-2022, 07:03 PM

Please find a template or form letter or better yet write your own and send it to our Councilors and Mayor your polite views and concerns about this Bylaw ASAP. email addresses below:-

Your Worship and Councilors:
Thank you for tabling the bylaw for the North West Industrial Area Structure Plan at the City Council Meeting on March 7th.
Our club has existed since 1887 and has been at its current site since 1991. We have spent millions of dollars building up our range and maintaining it.
Our club, like the racing clubs and the R.C.’ers Club bring tourists to Medicine Hat for events and competitions and our collective members spend millions of dollars in our local economy each year.
These clubs do not use City tax dollars to operate. Swimming pools, recreation centres and ice rinks use a great deal of tax money to operate and develop their infrastructure. The City should recognize the value that our Clubs bring is comparable to the various athletic clubs that use the aforementioned facilities. The City should also recognize that our value does not use tax-payers’ money. We are not advocating against tax-payer funded recreation infrastructure as our families also enjoy pools and rinks.
We ask that you send a message to Invest Medicine Hat that it did a poor job of consultation with the Medicine Hat Rifle and Revolver Club and, likely, the other affected clubs. Our Club never supported the Area Structure Plan and never supported the Policy Review Overlay as sufficient to protect our Club from the goals of the Area Structure Plan (develop and sell).
Although the Area Structure Plan is only one step to future development (redevelopment in the case of our beloved Club’s leased land) and sale, its intent is clear: to sell and develop our leased land for heavy industrial. The sale of our leased land could happen at any time despite the Policy Review Overlay.
Loss of our leased land will end our Club. It will end our contributions to the City through economic benefits of our family based recreation. We are paying our own way for our recreation, we only ask that we are allowed to continue doing that for many generations to come.
Please amend the Area Structure Plan to preserve the Clubs’ leased lands for recreational use by designating them for recreational use in the Plan. Please consider selling each Club their leased land to provide long term certainty.
Thank you for your consideration,
Mayor Linssie Clark mayor@medicinehat.ca
Councilors Robert Dumanowski robdum@medicinehat.ca
Cassi Hider cashid@medicinehat.ca
Darren Hirsch darhir@medicinehat.ca
Allison Knodel allkno@medicinehat.ca
Andy McGrogan andmcg@medicinehat.ca
Ramona Robins ramrob@medicinehat.ca
Shila Sharps shisha@medicinehat.ca
Alison Van Dyke alivan@medicinehat.ca

pikergolf · #19 03-14-2022, 08:01 PM

I penned my own, but the mayor and every council member got one.

DLab · #20 03-14-2022, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikergolf

I penned my own, but the mayor and every council member got one.

Thanks D.

catnthehat · #21 03-14-2022, 09:02 PM

This is an absolute outrage, all that diffferent recreational sports lease land being expropriated for what, like there isn't enough land down there for an Industrial park??
Cat

calgarychef · #22 03-14-2022, 10:32 PM

You don’t have to control guns if there’s no place to shoot them…

All current clubs should be looking at purchasing their land not leasing.
Leases all eventually get yanked out from under the club. Sage thing happened with the Calgary archery range, the city took the land back and we have nothing.

Iron Brew · #23 03-15-2022, 09:53 AM

I appreciate what you are doing, but I don't hold my breath. When Spruce Grove Range was in the process of being shut down, the county had an online recreation poll. I suggested (here and elsewhere) that firearms owners submit to the poll under suggestions the county develop a new range to replace the one they eliminated. Total number of people who submitted ANYTHING firearms related in the recreation poll? 1. Yeah. We reap what we sow.

There was minimal response within the county. It would have been very easy to stack and while they probably wouldn't have done it anyway, it would have given them a message.

I wish you better luck than I had motivating people to participate.

DLab · #24 03-15-2022, 10:44 AM

We are well aware of the circumstances with past dealings concerning other Clubs, Ranges, organizations dealing with the City or Counties in Alberta.

Mayor and Councilors have indicated they are getting a significant amount of push back correspondence already.

The March 21 meeting in Chambers will be the indicator. It's KEY that Chambers are packed. They were quite surprized at the turnout last meeting, we hope to double that number.

Being located at the northern boundary of the City Limits with private land directly North and City land North of that to the County Line, may be to our advantage. The City land has Gas well locations, not suitable at this time for development. The private Landowner has expressed absolutely no interest in the ASP, both are within our .338 Lapua Range Template.
Hopefully Council and Mayor will see the benefits in Quality of Recreational Leisure activities and economic impact, not to mention Votes in future Elections.

We have engaged Local TV News media, Newspapers, Social media and a correspondence campaign directed at City Hall, maybe it will all be for naught.
As stated previously, we have to try.
Thank You, to those who have expressed positive encouragement.

DLab · #25 03-17-2022, 06:59 AM

Short video presentation we put together containing information collated for City Council.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFSCjuQhxw8
If contacting City Council or Mayor, I ask that you be respectable in communications., Invest Medicine Hat may not be advising or as forth coming as they could be with their information input concerning our 5 Clubs.
We are providing additional info in this regard.
Thanks

WayneChristie · #26 03-17-2022, 08:15 AM

my bro got this reply when he wrote in. better show up at the meeting I guess if they arent taking more opinions

pikergolf · #27 03-17-2022, 08:23 AM

The replies I got to my emails indicate that they are aware that a lot of people are not happy.

WayneChristie · #28 03-17-2022, 08:25 AM

hopefully they listen.

Faststeel · #29 03-17-2022, 10:31 AM

I'll be at the meeting, I just bought a nice house and moved here because of the proximity of the shooting ranges to the city. Shooting is my passion.
Hope we can save the ranges......FS

pikergolf · #30 03-17-2022, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faststeel

I'll be at the meeting, I just bought a nice house and moved here because of the proximity of the shooting ranges to the city. Shooting is my passion.
Hope we can save the ranges......FS

Maybe let the council and mayor know that.