Council update, June 9, 2012

Hello everyone:

Sorry to keep bombarding you with emails, but it seems as if lots of people are interested in information re the high water levels (I know I am!), so I hope you won’t mind a few extra messages during the run-off period.  This one, however, is just the regular council email update.

On Monday, council will have two meetings.

SPECIAL MEETING RE LAND USE BYLAW

We didn’t finish debating the Land Use Bylaw phase 2a changes at the last council meeting, so we’ll be continuing that process on Monday, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Council Chambers.  You’re welcome to attend!  The package for the meeting can be seen at this link:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Special-Council-Agenda_120611.pdf

We still have to cover items such as bed and breakfast regulations, signage regulations, the height of buildings in the downtown, discretionary uses in the area around the train station, and our policies on required housing and parking to go with developments.

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

The regular council agenda is quite light on Monday (only 65 pages!!).  You can see the entire package at this link:

http://www.banff.ca/Assets/Council-Agenda-120611.pdf

Here are a few highlights from the agenda:

Rocky Mountain Housing Co-op

You’ll all be familiar with the apartment buildings near the Recreation Grounds.  Since the earliest days of this cooperative (which provides 114 housing units for 18 different community organizations and businesses), the Town has provided a loan guarantee for the outstanding moneys owed by the cooperative, as a way of supporting this important staff housing initiative.  This doesn’t mean that the Town loans them money, or that tax-payers pay for any of their costs.  It just means that we enable them to borrow at the low interest rate that is available to the Town.  Council is being asked to renew the loan guarantee for three years.  This borrowing by-law will be subject to public scrutiny and comment before coming back to Council for a vote at a future meeting.  I will be asking for some updates on the current status of the RMHCA organization before we eventually pass this by-law.  You can see the whole report starting on page 7 of the package.

Non-resident business licences

Event-based businesses (such as wedding photographers) who come to Banff to do business from time to time are asking for some different  options for business licensing.  These include having single-day licences, and being able to pay for licences online.  The report that starts on page 17 updates Council on what is being done to explore these options.

Housing needs study

In a report starting on page 44, Banff Housing Corporation is asking Council to fund a housing needs study, to identify gaps (if any) between housing supply and demand in town.  Our last study was done in 2002.  The BHC has gone through a careful process to identify the questions that need to be answered, and to review proposals from potential contractors.  The $54,000 required for the study would come from the Town’s budget stabilization fund.

I expect a lively discussion about this one.  I strongly support the idea of updating our housing information before investing in a new housing project.  That’s because everyone I talk to tells me that “anybody knows” what the housing problem is – and then it turns out that each person has a different version.  Some believe that there is no longer a problem – that our housing supply has caught up with demand.  Others say we need seniors’ housing, or accessible housing, or managed housing for young, single entry-level staff, or starter homes for the first-time buyer, or move-up homes for the family looking for more room.  I have my own views, based on my own observations – but that’s just anecdotal.  I believe we need some concrete data to back up any future projects.

Settlement Support Services

An interesting report, starting on page 61 of the package, briefs Council on the changing nature of temporary foreign workers in our community, and how Community Services is working to help these new Banffites be successful and happy here.  There are many interesting points, but here’s one that stuck out for me:  In 2009, Banff Elementary School had 10% of their students as ESL (English as a Second Language).  In 2012, that has grown to 25%.  That one fact alone shows how quickly the changes are taking place.

THE FINE PRINT

As always, this blog post represents just my point of view.  This is not a communication from the Town of Banff or from its Council.  I welcome your comments and questions!