At their March 25 regular meeting, Council gave first reading to the Land Use Bylaw Amending Bylaw 320 – Commercial Use Development Allotment Transferability and the Land Use Bylaw Amending Bylaw 321 – Transferability of Existing Commercial Gross Floor Area to trigger a public hearing scheduled on April 25 at 1 p.m. Bylaw 320 proposes to allow for the transfer of CDAs to help facilitate redevelopment and reinvestment in commercial properties. Bylaw 321 proposes to allow property owners to acquire new square footage through a peer-to-peer transaction.
Council did not want to conduct an experiment on the energy effectiveness of air curtains but instead asked administration to return with a proposed bylaw amendment requiring that doors to commercial establishments not be propped open when temperatures fall to a certain degree.
Monica Andreeff, David Bayne, Diane Gibson, Dan Markham and Brian Smythe were appointed to the Council Compensation Review Committee which will begin meetings in April to review the remuneration and benefits paid to the Town of Banff Council Members.
Councillor Lelsie Taylor gave notice that she will be bringing a motion to the April 8 meeting of council to require that reports to development approving authorities, such as the Municipal Planning Commission, include a description of how a proposed variance meets or does not meet the requirements of the Land Use Bylaw. Councillor Chip Olver also gave notice that she will be bringing a motion to the April 8 meeting for council’s support of the Banff Centre’s initiatives to continue and enhance radio service in Banff.
At their March 11 regular meeting, Council did not give second reading to an amendment in the Land Use Bylaw that would impose a quota system on formula business (Bylaw 314), with a 6-1 vote. Councillor Brian Standish voted in favour of the bylaw. The vote means that Council is no longer considering this particular means of restricting formula based restaurants and retail outlets in Banff, noting there are already restrictions on size, signs and zoning. The review of the Land Use Bylaw continues, however, with Phase 2C, transferability and Phase 3, Public Service Lands.
Council was informed the provincial budget impacts to the Banff taxpayer are considerable, with the elimination of national park tax rate on education tax that mitigated high assessed values. Banff residents could expect an additional tax increase of some 16 per cent. The Town collects the education tax on behalf of the Province at the same time as property tax is collected.