Town of Banff

Banff National Park Planning Forum 2006

October 27, 2006
Mayor John Stutz’s remarks

Before I begin, on behalf of the Town of Banff, I would like to thank Parks Canada for the opportunity to provide an update on the Town’s accomplishments and progress in implementing the Banff National Park management plan’s vision and objectives: 

Today, because our time is brief, I will only touch upon the areas where we believe the Town is making significant progress:

· Our Community Plan review and update
· Our plan’s for Banff Refreshing
· Our environmental stewardship
· Our plans to implement the LATB plan; and
· Our progress on transportation issues

Community Plan:

Began the Banff Community Plan review Nov. 2005 and we are pleased to report we are now reviewing the draft plan.

The National Park Management Plan identifies a number of issues to be addressed through our community plan…those include commercial and residential growth…which I will talk about in a few minutes; built heritage…environmental stewardship…no net negative impact…transportation and the overall appearance of our community.

An important aspect of the plan review is commercial build out and land use analysis.

The Town has now reached build out. We have allocated all of the commercial space available under the 1998 Banff Community Plan.  The question now is: what will this mean to our community and the provision of future commercial services for both residents and visitors?

To respond to this question we are working closely with Parks Canada on a Commercial Build Out Analysis. This will enable us to carefully look at land use…we are examining our zoning and how that will guide future development for the highest and best use.

Banff is mandated by the Parks act to be a service centre for visitors…we need to be sure we’re doing this. We need to be certain we can provide visitors and residents with all of the basic and essential services they require. 

We are now proactively working with the community and Parks to find a way to deliver essential services over the long term.  In fact, the Town has a public hearing scheduled for mid-November to hear input on this very topic.

We are confident the updated Banff Community Plan will set the framework for objectives that will help the Town further deliver on Parks’ three pillars and the Park Management Plan.

Banff Refreshing

Banff refreshing will enhance our downtown in a way that appropriately reflects our natural environment and will better position Banff as a town within a world heritage site and national park.

This investment to replace aging infrastructure on the 100 and 200 blocks of Banff Avenue will result in an improved pedestrian space more reflective of our natural surroundings.

Now working with business and the community to best determine how to begin this work in 2007.

While we’re talking about infrastructure…

We recognize that to fully deliver on the objectives of the Banff National Park Management Plan, the Town needs stable infrastructure.  It’s important to point out that it’s now been 16 years since we inherited the Town’s infrastructure from Parks Canada…and some of this infrastructure is over 100 years old. 

The cost to manage and enhance this infrastructure is high.  And admittedly, we are facing great fiscal challenges in this area.

As an example, we’re now investing $190,000 to replace the railing along Bow Falls – and this is one of the smaller infrastructure projects we will have underway next year.  Infrastructure costs a lot of money.

Environmental Stewardship & Reporting
 
Working on a Banff Community Indicators Report to be released early in 2007.  Also completing a State of the Town Report to be released before year’s end. 

Both reports reflect the Town’s continued support for 3NEI and recognition of the interconnectedness of everything we do in municipal decision-making.

A good example of work underway this year is our current construction project near Buffalo Street. We are making major improvements to storm water quality this year.  As we sit here, we are installing a storm water treatment unit on what will be one of Banff’s largest storm water outfalls.
 
Other successes include:
 
Successfully launched the “Size Matters” campaign as a means to deliver key ecosystem management messages to visitors during the TELUS Skins game.

Want to applaud Parks Canada for their work on the TELUS Skins game.  This event became an important showcase to profile environmental messages and to demonstrate first hand, how tourism and park protection can be balanced.

Introduced a series of interpretive panels along the Bow River trail.  The panels present important ecological and heritage tourism information for both visitors and locals and showcase the Town’s commitment to support Parks in their educational pillar.

On the LATB

Congratulate the LATB Committee and Parks Canada on the release of its LATB report.  It’s clear the results of this work were bang on…the public consultation process proved the community overwhelmingly supports LATB’s recommendations.  The recommendations work to maximize the visitor experience in high use areas, minimizing use in more environmentally sensitive areas. This further supports the notion of 3NEI.

To support LATB, the Town of Banff produced a new trail guide and map this year and we will actively fund implementation of Town related components of LATB through our 2007 budget process. 

Examples include funding of the Loop Trail and its connectivity to trails outside the town… and further work on enhanced directional signage. These are 2 of the top 10 priorities for implementation through this plan.

On Transportation

The Town supports the Regional Mobility Partnership…just attended a stakeholders meeting where we discussed the Banff/Canmore commuter trail.  This has been identified as a priority for the partnership and the trail is now in the conceptual design phase.

Mayor’s Mini-Summit Transportation Working Group was struck to address ski bus transportation issues.  We quickly realized public transit alternatives need to go beyond the ski hills.  We need to find ways to transport folks to high use and historic sites…to trailheads, Lake Minnewanka, to Norquay in summer and winter…and the list goes on.

Recognize that to do this…we have to partner with those who manage these attractions.

That’s a very high level summary of how the Town is working toward the vision and objectives for the park.

There are three points we really want to make here today.

1. We need to continue to work with Parks to make Banff a model environmental community.
2. We need to enhance the visitor experience together…the Town of Banff has invested heavily in a position and plan in this area.  Banff Lake Louise Tourism is investing in this area.  We invite Parks to also invest in a local visitor experience function that would look at the Park through the eyes of the visitor.
3. We recognize we need to work together to provide a higher awareness around the importance of Banff’s sense of place, and welcome further investment in education by Parks Canada.

And in closing, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the Town of Banff’s support for the three ski hills in Banff National Park.

The vibrancy, competitiveness and financial sustainability of the three ski hills in Banff National Park is of paramount importance to the people of Banff… and the loss of any of them would be devastating.

Skiing is a part of our heritage.  It is part of our culture; it is who we are!

Today, Banff National Park ski hills strive to celebrate this heritage while balancing environmental and financial sustainability.  As we have come to learn…this is indeed, a fine balance.

In the Town’s view, these ski hills are developed areas and we encourage Parks to work with each of them to ensure their long-term viability.

Thank you.