CANMORE – Clarity for employee housing in Canmore’s industrial areas will have to wait a little longer.
Town council voted to postpone a decision until its Sept. 5 meeting when all seven council members are on hand, but only after a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of potentially having employee housing in areas such as Bow Meadows Crescent.
Mayor Sean Krausert wanted council to direct that would’ve directed Town staff to return with potential amendments to the land use bylaw and Municipal Development Plan to allow for employee housing.
However, with six members of council attending would be and a likely 3-3 vote meaning the motion defeated and not able to return for at least six months, pushed for a Krausert postponement.
Krausert noted the housing crisis faced across the country will continue for the foreseeable future and it will take several initiatives and ideas to ease the housing crunch.
“Shutting the door to possibilities and saying yes to this motion is allowing and inviting recommendations as to how it may work,” he said. “I believe any business bringing forward a solution for housing for their employees or others employees should be embraced rather than turned away. We will need such initiatives in addition to all of the other actions we’re contemplating. … We will need initiatives such as this and those to address the housing of our workforce.”
Coun. Tanya Foubert echoed Krausert’s comments on gaining more information on potential regulations and changes to Town policies that could’ve possibly allowed employee housing in the industrial areas of the community.
“Everyone has a vision and intention of our community to be the best it can be and be better and do well by our future, future needs and our current needs and our current citizens and owners. … Our limited land base is a factor that affects what we can do and how we plan for the future,” she said.
“I think that at this point in time, given those solutions, it can create an opportunity for us as a community and council to choose the path being recommended today by administration, but I’d like to fully explore the solutions to the valid and multiple issues being raised by the report and recommendation by administration. I think there’s compromise available to us and I think we can find solutions.”
Coun. Joanna McCallum, the longest-serving councillor in her fourth term, said she has consistently heard of the need for income-appropriate housing and diversifying the economy as the two main issues in the community.
“The No. 1 thing I’ve consistently heard in the 12 years in this seat is that we need more income-appropriate housing and the second is we need to diversify our economy. … We have a lot of higher-density residential in Canmore, but we also have a lot of lower-density residential in Canmore. It’s interesting to me we don’t want to have those interesting conversations about densifying and diversifying our existing residential land base, but we’re willing to put people in the industrial park.”
Coun. Wade Graham called housing in an industrial area a “last resort” and highlighted the housing initiatives being worked on by the Town that will have a “significant impact”.
“This decision will have long-term consequences to our economic diversity and limiting the ability for businesses to be creative, to be entrepreneurial in a zone that is very limited wouldn’t be wise, in my opinion,” he said.
The polarizing issue has gradually grown over the last 16 months, but has specifically become a main issue between municipal staff and the development, construction and business community as Canmore Planning Commission (CPC) and Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB) hearings have mounted in recent months.
Ian O’Donnell, the executive director of Bow Valley Builders and Developers Association (BOWDA), said it was good to see the level of discussion, but he was disappointed clarity on employee housing in industrial areas when it comes to the Town’s statutory documents wasn’t provided.
“We’re pleased to see the alternative motion wasn’t defeated, but we were certainly hoping for the ability of administration to go off and do additional work and investigate a variety of options, choices and criteria that would provide more of a balanced way forward for applicants and allow clarity,” he said.
“Postponement puts many members and applications in a sense of purgatory. It postpones their decision-making, it delays potential housing that could be delivered sooner and prevents folks from looking at additional applications until there’s more clarity to deliver more housing.”
Throughout the staff and consultant presentations, and council debate that went on for slightly more than two-and-a-half hours and saw 11 Town staff members field questions, discussion surrounded safety, socio-economic, building codes, tax implications, the potential for precarious living in employee housing, waste removal, use of second floor space in the industrial area and Banff’s use of housing in its industrial area.
Originally scheduled for council’s June meeting, the discussion returned with Town staff recommending amendments to the land use bylaw and Municipal Development Plan to “discourage the provision of employee housing in industrial districts.”
The staff recommendation came with the completion of a retail gap analysis and light industrial and commercial land review study, asking council to stop the growing trend of employee housing in light industrial areas, specifically in the Bow Meadows Crescent region.
“While housing was not the primary area of focus for the study, the authors did recommend against repurposing light industrial space and land for employee housing,” a staff report stated. “This recommendation, combined with an increasing number of development permit applications related to the provision of employee housing in light industrial districts, and the applicable language in the land use bylaw, has informed administration’s recommended motion.”
The staff report emphasized the study aims to give “the Town the tools to sustain and enhance the economic health and diversity of the community.”
The study estimated 20,553 square metres of gross retail floor area, 4,782 square metres of gross office floor area and 9,144 of new gross industrial floor space will be needed by 2032.
The study further stressed the need to collaborate with businesses on shared priorities, continue to bring livability to the community and address housing issues and retain the use of industrial lands.
While the staff report pushes for the need to maintain industrial space for only industrial use rather than housing, the business community has equally emphasized the potential second floor space has for housing, specifically for employees.
At a contentious May 18 Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB) hearing, 16 businesses spoke in favour of employee housing in the Bow Meadows Crescent area at 100 Alpine Meadows. There were 13 letters in favour and more than 30 people in attendance to offer support.
The proposed 12 second floor employee units that would have added 34 bedrooms at 100 Alpine Meadows were denied by SDAB, but came after the board approved employee units at 127 Bow Meadows Crescent. CPC approved 12 employee units in May 2022 at 121 Bow Meadows Crescent.
“The business community has come together and given a variety of their own perspectives that supported the alternative motion and we should be looking at a variety of creatively, privately-led approaches to our housing crisis,” O’Donnell said. “The decision today delays it going forward … We have heard what the business community is saying from a report that a consultant the Town hired. When does the business voice resound over a third-party consultant report?”
However, while council has waited to provide clarity, development applications have continued to be made and ultimately decided by council-appointed committees at the CPC and SDAB.
Despite the growing high nature discussion on employee housing in the community, council has been silent on the topic.
In CPC and SDAB hearings, the MDP, land use bylaw, Indian Flats ASP and council’s strategic plan were used by both the applicant and Town staff to request the application move ahead or be denied.
The Town of Banff went through its own issues of employee housing in its industrial compound in the mid-2000s. The municipality found employee housing to be an opportunity and permitted it in 2002.
Rather than simply saying yes or no to employee housing, the Town worked on establishing regulations in the area for employee housing and its 2014 housing strategy finetuned the regulations to develop housing in the area.
The greatest barrier, however, was found to be its isolation from the townsite. With an area redevelopment plan to take place in the coming years and a Roam transit route launched in the area last year, it’s expected greater connectivity will be established.
Banff’s 2014 housing strategy identified housing in the industrial compound makes sense for people to live near their work, and it makes sense for the town to maximize residential opportunities.
Canmore's retail and light industrial study was part of the 2021 budget and a recommendation from economic development strategy and the Business Recovery Taskforce. It began in February 2022 and originally began solely as looking at the retail gap, but expanded to include light industrial and commercial.
“We know that challenge exists in our business community to find appropriate space to grow,” said Eleanor Miclette, the Town’s manager of economic development.
The retail study looks at the retail profile in the community, consumer demands, gaps and opportunities. The commercial and industrial land supply and demand inventory analyzed the approach for industrial and commercial lands.
Despite the study recommending the need to maintain the second floor light industrial space, businesses have repeatedly said the space is rarely, if ever, used for anything but storage, and that employee housing addresses the desperate need for housing and short staffing.
“This recommendation, combined with an increasing number of development permit applications related to the provision of employee housing in light industrial districts, and the applicable language in the land use bylaw, has informed administration’s recommended motion,” stated the staff report.
“The authors of the study recommend against allocating any of Canmore’s limited supply of light industrial land for residential use,” the report stated. “While there may be short-term benefits in terms of easing housing constraints to allow residential use in these areas, administration is concerned with potential unintended consequences on community equity.”
The study found a retail trade area population of 34,551 and about 216,464 square metres of ground floor business space in addition to having “a very low commercial vacancy rate” of less than one per cent.
The Gateway at Three Sisters has been under development since approval in late-2021, but faced numerous delays in planning matters as well as a SDAB hearing that delayed the removal and storage of topsoil and fill.
The Smith Creek area structure plan, which is waiting for a decision from the Court of Appeal, also has a commercial and light industrial component along the Trans-Canada Highway meant for Smith Creek and Dead Man’s Flats residents.
The commercial district, according to the ASP but not mentioned in the retail and light industrial gap study, would be between three and five hectares.
In addition, the report highlights there’s no guarantee of employee housing remaining as such due to the limited enforcement options by the municipality.
“Primary concerns are around the livability of the spaces and neighbourhoods for residents, the potential for precarious housing circumstances to exist for employees whose shelter is controlled by their employer, and the possibility that inequitable neighbourhoods will be created,” stated the staff report.
“In addition, the Town has such limited industrial lands that the potential for long-term negative consequences for small business owners to open and run businesses here could be significant. This will severely limit the Town’s ability to advance economic development growth and diversification.”
Krausert stressed the importance of providing options for people to live in the community, particularly with the town facing the housing crisis.
“I don’t think it’s about first or last choice, but it’s about a choice and people do have a choice,” he said. “We’re on the brink of simply having our workforce be transported in and we’re going to lose that segment of our community unless we give them a choice to consider.”
The original version of the article incorrectly stated employee housing was meant to be discussed at council's May meeting instead of June. The article has been updated and the Outlook apologizes for the error.
