BANFF – The last of three bed and bed breakfast homes shut down earlier this year has been given a new permit to re-open.
The municipal planning commission approved a development permit in September for a four-bedroom B&B at 138 Otter Street, known as Beaujolais Boutique at Thea’s House, now owned by Beaujolais Boutique B&B Ltd., which has two shareholders.
“The plans for the proposed bed and breakfast home comply with the requirements of the Town of Banff Land Use Bylaw,” said Dave Michaels, a development planner with the Town of Banff.
The B&B was originally approved for two commercial accommodation rooms, but was shut down by MPC in March for renting more bedrooms than legally permitted and for not meeting a requirement that the owner or operator lives in the home.
The owners appealed, but the Development Appeal Board (DAB) upheld MPC’s decision.
Following that, the owners asked for a six-month resubmission period to be waived, but a development officer turned that down. DAB then overruled that and the B&B was allowed to resubmit so it could re-open as soon as possible.
In last month’s decision, MPC added some conditions to the permit, including a condition that commercial rooms cannot be rented when the live-in owner is not in residence at the property.
In 1998, the federal government set a development cap of 350,000 square feet of additional commercial space beyond what existed in the Banff townsite at the time amid fears rampant development was harming the park.
Aside from commercial growth management and the imbalance between commercial and residential development at the time, how to better regulate the proliferation of B&Bs was one of the single biggest issues.
The number of B&Bs was capped at 65 across the entire town, although only a certain number are allowed in each district where B&Bs are permitted.
