BANFF – Sweeping land use bylaw changes aimed at increasing housing to deal with a shortage of residential units have been passed by Banff council.
On Monday (June 24), council passed second and third reading of bylaws that will pave the way for greater housing density by eliminating minimum residential parking requirements and increasing the allowable size of buildings in neighbourhoods.
“Too many people just don’t have adequate housing, they don’t. I’ve seen people living in closets, or in garages or under stairs; it’s not just Harry Potter movies. This is real, it’s happening right now in our community,” said Coun. Grant Canning.
“The Town can’t pull us out of this issue. There’s not enough tax dollars, there’s not enough land under our control. We need the private sector to step up and build more housing and in my mind you create that through increasing density.”
The Town of Banff is looking at ways to address the housing shortfall of between 700-1,000 units and boost the current rental vacancy rate of less than one per cent by building Town-financed housing, changing regulations that will accelerate private development, and adding incentives for new homes.
Next will be work to address the demand for new housing associated with commercial expansion.
The federal funding of $4.66 million as part of the Housing Accelerator Fund for Banff is serving as a catalyst for all these changes. The process is expected to bring on at least 240 new housing units by 2027, including 43 so-called affordable units.
Under the extensive changes to the land use bylaw, there is now no minimum number of required parking stalls for any housing development, although when parking stalls are provided, they must conform to the requirements of the bylaw.
“We’ve had many discussions with people who’ve wanted to add housing but haven’t been able to do so because they haven’t been able to meet the parking requirements,” said Dave Michaels, manager of development services for the Town of Banff.
Each of the town’s 23 land use districts are to be categorized as either higher-density, medium-density or lower-density districts and have regulations to match.
To increase the allowable size of buildings, there is an increase in building height, up to 14.5 metres in high-density districts, a reduction in setbacks, and increase in the total floor area that could be built on a site in all residential areas.
This would be done on a sliding scale where more floor area can be built when more homes are proposed.
The proposed changes would simplify the definitions of different residential housing types and define which housing types are permitted or discretionary in each of the lower-, medium-, or higher-density areas.
In recent years, the Town of Banff has seen no to low housing development, with three net new units in 2023, zero net new units in 2022 and only 34 in 2021, the bulk of which was The Aster below-market housing development built by the Town of Banff.
Michaels said about 30 housing units had been approved but those projects had been put on hold indefinitely, noting there was a submission during the public hearing that indicated the proposed bylaw changes would likely make their project viable now.
“We’ve heard that a lot, and in fact, I've got a lot of meetings queued up for later this week on the off-chance that second and third reading pass this week,” he said.
“We know there's a lot of people looking at development in the community for residential properties and that number of 240 units is what we’ve anticipated for our Housing Accelerator Fund … we are confident we can achieve that with bylaw changes as proposed.”
Council directed administration to return each year until the end of 2027 with details on how many residential units have been approved, where the housing is located, what the vehicle parking requirements would have been for residential units, and how much parking was built.
“This will be a way for us to stay dialed in and acutely aware of the successes, and if there are challenges, what they are looking like,” said Coun. Barb Pelham, who is a council representative on Municipal Planning Commission.
Beginning in the 1990s and 2000s and continuing, Banff continues to see an increase in population as commercial properties transition from retail to restaurant operations, which require more employees who need more housing.
Even with a commercial cap set for the town in the 1990s, the current housing shortage persists.
Coun. Ted Christensen, who was the lone voice of opposition against the bylaw changes, wanted to talk about the notion of population limits “that might help us live within a fixed boundary.”
“Are we full?” he questioned.
Mayor Corrie DiManno said Banff’s latest community social assessment shows there are notably fewer families with children than in the previous assessment, noting the latest federal census shows a substantial decline in two-parent families with children from 47 per cent in 2016 to 39 per cent in 2023.
She said cost of living, childcare challenges, and the lack of appropriate, affordable housing were reported as a barrier to staying in the community.
“In fact, housing is reported as the largest issue facing residents in the community social assessment,” she said.
Although the 2021 federal census shows a decrease in the number of residents paying more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, DiManno said Banff still ranks high in terms of housing being unaffordable when compared to other communities.
“We are fourth after Vancouver, Toronto and Whistler. The highest percentage of those paying more than 30 per cent of their income are renters and we know 60 per cent of Banff residents are renters,” said the mayor.
Even with the introduction of subsidized housing units, such as those at Ti’Nu, DiManno said the vacancy rate remains close to zero and purchasing a home sits at the severely unaffordable metric requiring 8.2 times a household income.
“Residents reported housing insecurity as a leading cause of mental health stress, and again, the lack of appropriate and affordable options as reasons for leaving the community,” she said.
The bylaw changes will be sent to Parks Canada for final approval.
