council update -- 24 March, 2013

Hello everyone:

It was great to see so many people at Connect 2013 the other day.  Thank you so much for coming out and having your say!  I loved the idea of having all sorts of information and input opportunities in one place at one time, and I hope that this will become an annual event.  I think the only improvement I could suggest would be to consider having a supervised “play and pizza” room for young kids to make it easier for parents to attend.

COUNCIL TOMORROW

Council meets on Monday at 2 pm, and – as always – we would be delighted to see you there!  If you’re thinking that you might be running for council in the fall, it’s time to start attending a few meetings to get a feeling for the issues and the format.  If you’re not thinking about running, you’re still very welcome.  Remember, during every agenda there are two question periods in which people in the gallery can ask questions about the day’s agenda items.

You can see the whole agenda package for the meeting at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/03252013-273

Here are a few highlights:

Banff Ideas Bank

Kim Bater will be presenting the 50 best ideas from 2012.  You can see them starting on page 5 of the package – take a read, they’re inspiring!

Bylaw on Transferability of Commercial Development Allotments

As you know, we have a commercial growth cap here in Banff.  Every so often, a lottery is held to give potential developers a crack at some square footage that will allow them to do their development.  Right now, unused Commercial Development Allotments (CDAs) expire after five years, returning to the Town’s “kitty”.  Meanwhile, there are developers who have part of the square footage they need for their proposed building, but no way (other than the lottery) to acquire more.  The proposed bylaw would allow CDAs to be transferred from a developer who is not going to use them to one who will.  This bylaw is in front of council for First Reading.  Voting for First Reading does not mean that you support the bylaw, it simply gets the bylaw on the table for a public hearing (probably in late April) and further discussion.

You can see the report and the proposed bylaw starting on page 21 of the package.

Bylaw on Transferability of commercial gross floor area

The transfer of CDAs is a transfer of potential, un-built space.  This bylaw proposes transferability of previously built space.  So, for example, if commercial space is demolished, or if a building that was commercial is taken over for non-commercial purposes (a government office, let’s say), then this bylaw proposes that the commercial space represented by that building should be available for transfer to another site.  Just like the other, this bylaw is in front of council for First Reading.  Voting for First Reading does not mean that you support the bylaw, it simply gets the bylaw on the table for a public hearing and further discussion.

You can see the report and the proposed bylaw starting on page 27 of the package.

Closing retail doors in winter

This report (starting on page 37 of the package) asks Council to provide direction on the question of businesses leaving their doors open in the winter. Council gets comments from time to time about this environmentally unfriendly practice, and about how it affects our image as a town in a national park. The difficulty, of course, is that people who have worked in retail (I’ve asked quite a few now) agree that an open door brings noticeably more people in off the sidewalk. Weird, but true.  Another difficulty is that many retailers believe that the “air curtains” that they use at their doors result in an energy regime equal to having a closed door.  We’re having trouble understanding this, as it appears that the “air curtains” themselves must take up substantial energy to maintain.  However, it’s been difficult to ascertain the facts, until now.  This report proposes that we do an experiment with air curtains at our own public washrooms, where we have control over the doors and good, solid stats on energy use long-term.  You can see the report starting on page 37 of the package.

I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with this experiment.  After all, if what seems likely to be true actually is true, and air curtain plus open door still equals lots more energy use than closed door, then we will have used extra energy in order to prove that energy is being wasted.  And even if we have irrefutable proof at the end of our experiment, it’s not likely that that proof will lead to a massive wish for closed doors among the retail community.  I’m ready to listen to the discussion tomorrow, but I’m inclined to suggest that we should just go to work on what would be a reasonable temperature range for a closed-door bylaw.  However, the main difficulty would be the need for enforcement, as allowing a few businesses to flout the bylaw while everyone else complies would put them at a competitive advantage, and we would be creating an unfair situation.

Appointment of committee on council compensation

Ten kind-hearted, public-minded folks have stepped forward to volunteer for this committee, and council will be appointing five of them tomorrow.  Thank you so much to every person who volunteered!  You can see the report on page 39 of the package.

OTHER ITEMS ON MY COUNCIL CALENDAR THIS WEEK

On Monday, we will be meeting with S.Sgt. Brunner of the Banff RCMP to learn about crime statistics and to discuss the policing plan and priorities for the coming year.  On Wednesday, I will be attending the first meeting of the Community Housing Strategy committee – a new committee to bring together some of the major players in housing in Banff, focus our efforts and look for duplications and gaps.

Best wishes until next time -- Leslie