BANFF – The owners of a Banff home that was shut down in 2022 after Alberta Health Services found people living in overcrowded and unhealthy conditions have been fined $1,750 in provincial court in Canmore.
The Town of Banff took the owners of the 321 Squirrel St. home to court for violating the municipality’s land use bylaw by having unauthorized rooms without a valid development permit.
Gail Morgan, the occupant of the home, pleaded guilty in court on Sept. 28 and was fined $1,750, according to the statement of facts presented to the court, and a charge against Janna-Joy Goff, the registered owner of the property, was dropped.
Dave Michaels, manager of planning services for the Town of Banff, said the municipality is pleased with the resolution of this issue.
“We need new housing space in Banff, but not at the expense of the safety and well-being of our residents,” he said.
“In this case, a development permit was not obtained for development in a residential property, preventing any oversight of the conditions and requirements for dwellings.
“We are glad this case is resolved and the Town can continue focusing on ways to stimulate additional safe and affordable housing for our community.”
According to the agreed statement of facts presented to the court, Morgan was the person responsible for obtaining a development permit as the occupant of 321 Squirrel St., but failed to do so, which is contrary to Banff’s land use bylaw.
Provincial violation tickets were issued on August 12, 2022, against Morgan and Goff, who was the registered owner of the property.
“The parties are agreed that, on inspection by the Town on January 27, 2023, the property was in compliance with the Land Use Bylaw, which was confirmed by the Town of Banff in writing dated January 30, 2023,” according to the agreed statement of facts.
“The parties have agreed on a fine of $1,750 to be paid by Ms. Morgan within 1 year of the sentencing date. Upon acceptance of Ms. Morgan’s guilty plea and the joint submission on sentence by the Court, the Crown will have an application to dispose of the remaining ticket against Ms. Goff.”
The Town of Banff issued a stop order Aug. 22, 2022, for the unapproved development, which came on the heels of an Aug. 4 Alberta Health Services (AHS) enforcement order for exceeding the 16-person occupancy limit for this Squirrel Street property.
The AHS environmental public health report from an inspection on July 28, 2022, indicated the home was inspected based on a series of complaints including illness, such as coughing, sniffles and phlegm from the living conditions, and overcrowding concerns with 25 tenants living onsite.
The public health inspector said the complaints included bedrooms without windows, filthy kitchens, flies and potentially broken insect screens, a kitchen shared by 25 people, a bathroom shared by 12 people and an outdoor rental tent.
In the inspection, the AHS report indicated a total of 42 beds and/or mattresses were counted, of which 35 appeared to be occupied at the time of the inspection.
The maximum occupancy for this home is 16 people based on the two available kitchens, meaning only eight people can share a kitchen.
The municipal stop order directed Goff and Morgan to immediately and permanently stop allowing people to live in the unapproved rooms and return the property to the approved as-built layout within 45 days of the stop order.
The Squirrel Street home has a history of operating unapproved bedrooms, according to the Town of Banff, and was subject to a stop order in 2017, which was rescinded in 2018 when the owners complied with the order.
Then in April 2020, the owners asked if they could use 11 rooms to house 16 people to help with isolation and social-distancing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Town of Banff’s development department responded within a couple of days, making it clear extra bedrooms above the seven that were approved could not be used without a valid development permit.
According to the Town, inspections by the municipal compliance officer and AHS on separate occasions – November 2019 and March 2020 – had indicated unapproved bedrooms were being used at the property despite previous enforcement action in 2017.
The Town reminded the owners that use of unapproved bedrooms without proper permission “may result in enforcement action against the property.”
The owners appealed the municipal stop order to Banff’s Development Appeal Board. In December 2022, the appeal board upheld the development officer’s decisions, but stayed the enforcement order until May 2023 to give the owners time to bring the home into compliance.
According to the Town, the owner obtained a building permit to remove the unapproved development.
Since then, there hasn’t been any development permit applications for additional dwellings or bedrooms.
