CANMORE – A marathon eight-hour appeal hearing that featured two lengthy adjournments will have a disagreement between two major Canmore property owners decided by the Town’s appeal board.
Canmore’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB) will provide an answer to conflicting views between Stone Creek Resorts – owner of Silvertip Resort – which filed an appeal against Basecamp’s Nordic spa development on the site of the former 99-unit Holiday Inn, now known as MTN House Hotel with Rhythm and Howl restaurant.
The two sides met multiple times in the lead-up to the original April 18 appeal hearing and the May 9 hearing for a possible compromise after concerns about landscaping, how a potential pathway will impact the roadway leading to Silvertip, traffic, fencing and whether the Canmore Planning Commission (CPC) followed council’s direction for the area.
“Stone Creek’s goal in this appeal is to achieve a well-functioning and beautiful designed entrance to the Silvertip resort,” said Churyl Elgart, legal representation for Stone Creek.
Elgart added Stone Creek has no interest in delaying Basecamp, but unless there’s an agreement between the two sides, their “last, last option” is hoping to see SDAB direct Basecamp to come back with new plans on Stone Creek’s concerns.
“We have been steadfast with the reasons why we originally submitted an appeal and we continue to try and seek a resolution.”
Karin Finley, Stone Creek’s senior vice president of resort development, echoed Elgart’s commnets since the area is the main entry into Silvertip, which is expected to significantly grow in the coming years.
“This will continue to be a very important entrance to us in perpetuity. … We would like to maintain the access and have a beautiful access way,” she said.
Birol Fisekci, president of real estate for Basecamp, said the Nordic spa and MTN House will be a “flagship” for the company. He noted 38.28 per cent of the site will be landscaped – with the development permit requiring a minimum of 25 per cent – and 217 trees planted of the 180 required.
“We just want to build a spa and we want to contribute to the general community,” he said.
Fisekci presented several different options, ranging from redesigning aspects of the pathway and an access easement.
“All of these changes are important because they’re important to our neighbour. They don’t impact the spa design. … There’s a lot of subtle design elements that could see that pathway meander and ultimately, we should be respectful of the Town telling us what we should do there,” he said.
Sky McLean, the owner of Basecamp, said since starting in 2016 the company has built 14 projects in Canmore with more than 500,000 square feet of developable space.
Both representatives from Stone Creek and Basecamp highlighted the two sides had spoken about the plans for the area, but each differed from the timeline and the fulsomeness that took place.
Roughly four hours of the eight-hour hearing were spent in an attempt to reach a last-minute agreement between Stone Creek and Basecamp, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
The March 22 appeal filed by Stone Creek said it was its belief the development officer on the file “did not follow directions of council as set out in the direct control district regulations, [land use bylaw and Municipal Development Plan],” in addition to the Municipal Government Act (MGA).
The spa, according to the April 15 letter from Stone Creek, adds only hotel guests should be able to use it for the site to remain an accessory use, day-use thereby prohibiting.
Elgart previously noted the direct control district doesn’t list eating and drinking establishments – which the site has Rhythm and Howl restaurant – and the original documents are needed to see if it’s conforming or non-conforming.
Elgart said the hotel permit was approved in 1997 under the Hyatt Regency Canmore Master Plan and the 1986 land use bylaw. The hotel first welcomed guests in 1998 and the direct control bylaw for the area came into effect in 1999.
Elgart took exception to changes that were made in the direct control bylaw and the land being brought into the Silvertip area structure plan (ASP).
“There were amendments made to this [direct control] bylaw. It’s very surprising to me, I’ve not seen that before,” she said.
“For unknown reasons, the Town decided to recommend the property be brought into the ASP and it be exempted from the policies in the ASP.”
CPC previously made several approvals related to the site, but its last would add four accessory buildings and multiple outdoor hot and cold pools with seating areas.
However, the development authority for the direct control district was switched by council earlier this year from planning commission to the Town’s development officer on the file.
Work has also been ongoing at the site, with Fisekci saying grading and stripping of the site taking place in October and a large overhaul of the hotel having been done in roughly the last 12 months.
The plans for the development permit will also have extra landscaping, the fence being behind the AltaLink electrical poles and having emergency access as needed by emergency personnel.
Stone Creek also has its own future development plans for a spa, but Basecamp previously stated it believes it will not be impacted by its own Nordic spa development.
The April 15 letter from Elgart Law stated the adjacent parcel to the Basecamp property is planned for an employee housing project. Silvertip has 352 finished residential units, with 350 more to go along with 850 employee housing units and 1,290 resort accommodation units.
Elgart highlighted the existing road needs to remain wide enough for buses and construction-related traffic, with significantly more construction to take place in the coming years.
A transportation impact review from Calgary-based Bunt and Associates on behalf of Stone Creek states the removal of a vehicle lane for bike lane isn’t supported by existing traffic studies as being safer. It further outlines using the 1990 Master Plan, Silvertip ASP, 2018 Integrated Transportation Master Plan, 2020 Engineering Design and Construction Guidelines and 2023 Palliser Trail ASP the design of the existing roadway at Silvertip Trail.
Town staff stressed the development permit had no requirements to close the road, which could only happen through a council-approved bylaw.
“We need to be very clear, we’re not closing the road right-of-way,” said Riley Weldon, a planner with the Town of Canmore.
Andy Esarte, the Town’s manager of engineering, cautioned SDAB to avoid designing through an appeal due to the complex manner that involves guidelines, policy and master plans. He added the Town has made its transportation study nd its consultant available and will consider new information from Stone Creek's study.
“With respect to trying to design through an appeal process or design as part of a DP, it’s more appropriate to defer to a regular Town process for developing design for those right of ways,” he said.
Bob Homersham, a lawyer with Field Law representing Basecamp, added there are limited conditions SDAB can impose in a development permit.
“There’s a lot of consternation from our neighbours – Stone Creek – about the proposed location of the pathway that would take up some of the road right of way. That’s an off-site condition,” he said.
SDAB has 15 days within the ruling to provide a decision.
