Town of Banff

Resident Initiatives

Retaining Crititcal Resources

Strategic Objectives - Ensure economic prosperity for the long-term - Preserve local serving commercial assets - Reduce barriers for new, local commercial operators

The Land Use Bylaw can play a part in ensuring that residents have an opportunity for input should critical commercial resources such as grocery stores and service stations undergo a change of use. Under the current Land Use Bylaw regulations, there is no public process required should a grocery store wish to convert to an alternate use (e.g. sporting goods store). The Commercial Build-Out Study ( PDF - 1.2 mb) suggests that local-serving retailers such as grocery stores will be placed under significant pressure in an environment of escalating commercial rents.

With both the Community Plan and Build-Out Study pointing to the need to protect critical retail services such as grocery stores, regulatory amendments to the Land Use Bylaw have been put forward as a proactive step.

What does the Build-Out Study say? 

• “Address the shortfall of support services to the existing population, visitor and employee base”
• “Protect the existing retail base”
• “Prioritize projects which incorporate local serving retail”

What does the Community Plan say?

• “Provide an appropriate mix of commercial services that meet the long-term needs of visitors and residents”

The initial Phase 2 proposals (2010) suggested that the uses on these sites be limited solely to grocery stores or service stations respectively. As a result of feedback from property owners, these proposals have been amended to retain all existing uses on these sites, albeit in a "discretionary" rather than "permitted" category. 

• Click for more information on:
• Proposed regulations aiming to preserve grocery stores...  
• Proposed regulations for service stations...  

Local Businesses - Reducing Housing & Parking Barriers

One other area the Land Use Bylaw review is looking to address are barriers encountered by local business people when setting up a new venture. Two key areas are fees required for in-lieu-of housing and parking which can often reach into the tens of thousands of dollars. New commercial ventures can be stifled by what is viewed as a prohibitive cost structure, especially start-ups with limited cash reserves who are typically leasing smaller commercial units. This has a trickle-up effect, with commercial property owners struggling to recruit local tenants. 

As part of the Land Use Bylaw review, staff are proposing a deferred payment scheme to reduce barriers for local businesses. Click here for more information...

Local Businesses - Employee Housing in Banff

Phase 2 of the Land Use Bylaw review has also recognized that building new, required employee bedrooms (instead of providing cash-in-lieu) can be a prohibitive venture for small local businesses. Therefore, a proposal is in place that new "built" bedrooms could be provided by a joint venture with a local home-owner who is building a secondary suite.

Click here for more information on this proposal...