CANMORE – A development appeal between two of the biggest property owners in Canmore against the construction of new buildings for a Nordic spa was postponed until May.
Stone Creek Resorts – the owner of Silvertip Resort – filed an appeal against aspects of the Nordic spa development at the 99-unit former Holiday Inn, which is now owned by Basecamp.
“Stone Creek considers the spa proposed under the permit to be a welcome addition to the area,” states an April 15 eight-page letter from Elgart Law, representing Stone Creek. “Its concerns are related to access, landscaping, parking, traffic and appropriate infrastructure cost-sharing.”
The appeal takes issue with approval by the Canmore Planning Commission (CPC).
The CPC approval would add four accessory buildings and multiple outdoor hot and cold pools with outdoor seating areas. The existing building is the former Holiday Inn – now MTN House Hotel – and has a restaurant. As part of the CPC approval, there were 16 development permit conditions.
The March 22 appeal filed by Stone Creek said the company believed 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 appeal states the plan to remove a vehicle lane for a bike lane should instead have a condition for a future conversion and the Town made an error in not following the required MGA road closure to turn the vehicle lane into one for bikes.
“The Town provided no evidence that the closure will maintain the current level of safety for the Silvertip community, particularly during construction under the Silvertip [area structure plan],” the appeal stated.
In addition, the appeal documents add the fence area should provide more landscaping along Silvertip Trail, and the new Silvertip Trail access “should be removed as the property already has convenient accesses and on-site circulation.”
The spa, according to the April 15 letter, states only hotel guests should be able to use it in order for the site to remain an accessory use and for day-use to be prohibited.
Elgart noted the direct control district doesn’t list eating and drinking establishments – although the site has Rhythm and Howl restaurant – and the original documents are needed to confirm conformance or non-conformance.
“The Municipal Government Act says if you have a non-conforming use, you can’t build any additional buildings on the property,” she said.
A submission from Rick Grol, a Calgary-based municipal planning lawyer and 15-year chair of Calgary’s SDAB, on behalf of Basecamp and the architects METAFOR, states the two sides have met multiple times, along with Town staff, to reach a compromise.
Among the compromises was the future pathway being “reconfigured, relocated and extended along Silvertip Trail” to go from Basecamp’s to Stone Creek’s property by 325 metres to reach the crossing on Silvertip Trail.
“My view is the onus is on other parties to demonstrate that there’s no records of any approvals for this hotel that has existed for many years,” Grol said. “We believe also the existing development permit for the existing development including the current accessory use as a restaurant is irrelevant and is outside of the scope of the appeal and application before you.”
Birol Fisekci, president of real estate for Basecamp, said they’re concerned about escalating costs and losing a construction season with further delays.
He said Basecamp and Stone Creek had several meetings to reach an agreement, but the appeal was “a delay tactic in an effort to cripple our business.”
“There’s been a constant pattern of Stone Creek giving us hope where we’re going to reach an agreement and at the last minute it’s one more thing that we need to show up for,” he said, adding there had been requests from Stone Creek to see financial information, operational plans and elements of the business strategy for the Nordic spa.
“I am shocked at the level of commitment we’ve given both the Town and our friends at Stone Creek, yet they’re still asking for an additional four weeks.”
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.
The submission notes the plans align with the land use bylaw, Municipal Development Plan and Silvertip area structure plan (ASP). It adds Town staff didn’t object to the changes to the revised development permit plans reached by Basecamp and Stone Creek.
It also notes Stone Creek has its own future development plans for a spa, but Basecamp believes it will not be impacted by its own Nordic spa development.
The immediate site is part of the Silvertip Trail direct control district, but is within the Silvertip ASP.
“For this very important site, it is the entry into Silvertip’s resort. For this site not to work, for there to be [vehicle] backup onto Silvertip Trail and Palliser … For these kinds of things to not be thought through properly and to have the background and build it up from there, it’s sort of like we’ve got some of the ingredients for the cake but we don’t have the cake yet,” said Elgart.
The April 15 letter from Elgart Law noted the adjacent parcel to the Basecamp property is planned for an employee housing project.
It notes Silvertip has 352 finished residential units, with 350 more to go along with 850 employee housing units and 1,290 resort accommodation units.
The letter adds the Town has advised Stone Creek the original development permit, related plans and the direct control district planning report are missing. The appeal, however, asks for a one-month adjournment for the Town to provide requested historical approvals and reports.
Riley Weldon, the Town’s acting manager of planning and development, said due to many files being more than 30 years old it has taken extra time to locate documents requested.
“These documents were produced multiple decades ago. We have since that time scanned the documents into separate digital files. We have looked through those digital files and we’re continuing to look for those files and we have found some of the documents related to those files, but we haven’t been able to locate all of them,” he said.
The area of land has had several minor variances approved by the Canmore Planning Commission. 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.
A transportation impact review from Calgary-based Bunt and Associates on behalf of Stone Creek states the removal of a vehicle lane for a 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.
“My client is very in support of this development. … We just need a little bit of time to get this sorted out,” said Elgart.
