BANFF – A bed and breakfast inn is undergoing a major redevelopment to become the first fully accessible commercial accommodation in Banff coupled with plans to save a treasured heritage cabin on site.
Five years after a previous higher-density proposal was turned down, the Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) approved the redevelopment of Banff’s Beaver Cabins at 218-220 Beaver St. from six commercial accommodation units to 10 – the maximum number allowed.
Owner JP Middleton, who was left wheelchair-bound after a skiing accident at Banff’s Mount Norquay in 2018, is thrilled with MPC’s decision on the application, which keeps all accessible buildings at one-storey and retains one of three historic cabins.
“It’s a barrier-free bed and breakfast inn, and we’re preserving the oldest and most important heritage building on site. Building to the highest design isn’t something that was forced upon us, it was a socially conscious choice,” said Middleton during the commission meeting on Wednesday (Oct. 11).
"Accessibility needs to be at the forefront of all of our thoughts during the design process, and this property accomplishes that in so many ways. We’re slowly moving the needle in the right direction and I hope the momentum continues with other projects in the Town of Banff and beyond," he added after the meeting.
Recently, Middleton surveyed every hotel in Banff.
"Only 23 of our roughly 3,700 hotel rooms claim to be accessible. Nine hotels in Banff reported having zero accessible rooms. Our community offers zero accessible B&B homes and zero accessible B&B inns," he said. "I find those numbers troubling."
As three of the existing buildings on the two lots are listed on the Town of Banff’s municipal heritage inventory, the application was reviewed by Banff Heritage Corporation, which encouraged the owners to save more than one of the three cabins.
As part of the development, the Thomson Cabin 2 will be renovated and moved to face Beaver Street on the southwest corner of the site. It will form one of the 10 units, but also include a manager’s dwelling below grade.
Records show it was built as a canvas tent around 1914 and converted to a cabin between 1937 and 1940. However, two others – the 1950 James Thomson Residence and 1940s Thomson Cabin 1 – are slated for demolition.
Banff town planners pointed out there is no legal obligation for the owners to save any of the heritage buildings, but noted they are volunteering to save the one as part of the redevelopment plans.
“There’s nothing that legally protects these buildings … it’s at the property owner’s discretion,” said Dave Michaels, manager of planning services for the Town of Banff.
“In fact, if they proposed an apartment building, which is a permitted use on this site, and they proposed to demolish everything on site, they’d be well within their legal right to do that.”
Officials with Studio North – the designers of the new project – said if the other two cabins were kept, there would need to be two-storey buildings, which would significantly intensify the site and result in dwellings that weren’t accessible.
They said they are exploring options for the heritage cabins, including potential relocation to another private property, "but the most realistic option is demolition right now".
The Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation said the development is a significant improvement compared to the 2019 application, but remains concerned about the loss of two heritage buildings.
The foundation’s letter from president Bill Luxton said this block has the highest area of built heritage in Banff, with four designated properties and several other properties on the Banff heritage inventory.
“The proposed development will substantially change the historic character of this property,” the letter reads.
In order to accommodate the redevelopment plans, MPC granted a request for variances sought to the front yard setback, floor area ratio and site coverage following a lengthy two-hour in camera discussion.
The property falls within the Central Muskrat District-RCM district, but the land use bylaw dictates the most restrictive regulations of any district must apply to bed and breakfast inns. In this case, it is River Front District-RRF.
MPC allowed for a front yard setback of 2.03 metres instead of six, which is consistent with many of the other heritage buildings on the block.
A variance to the maximum floor area ratio of 0.35 for bed and breakfast inns was granted at 0.37 per cent for the B&B portion. The amount of floor area is slightly less than what is currently on the site.
The maximum site coverage of 30 per cent was increased to 39 per cent, which allows the developers to provide all of the floor area at or under one storey.
MPC chair Stavros Karlos said it wasn’t an easy decision for commissioners to make.
He said site coverage and floor area ratio were more logical to meet the variance test, but it was a tougher conversation regarding front yard setback in terms of how it could be considered a minor variance from the bylaw.
He said MPC considered the scaling and massing of the current streetscape, human-scale development and protection of sight lines, noting this was to be a single-story development with a low roofline.
“In this instance, if this was not a B&B but was an apartment complex – which is currently permitted there – this legally permissible use would land with a structure that is basically the entire site and with a roofline that is significantly higher which would impede site lines,” he said.
“In consideration of the variance and the tests of whether or not it was minor, we looked at the intent, the intent of the setback in the front yard, and believe that this development will maintain the integrity of the bylaw.”
Parks Canada was keen to make sure there was no increase in the inn’s commercial footprint, which was central to the federal agency’s opposition to the previous 2019 plans for redevelopment.
Kathleen Gallagher, planner for the Town of Banff, said the amount of existing gross floor area was reviewed with Parks Canada to ensure both the municipality and applicant are aware of the available amount of gross floor area.
“The development will not include an increase in the gross floor area,” she said, noting it is one square metre less than what is currently there.
Bed and breakfast inns are discretionary uses in all land use districts in which they are allowed and MPC is the development approving authority for all discretionary uses.
There are only eight bed and breakfast inns in operation in Banff, with only one other in the RCM district.
