BANFF – The Town of Banff has been flushing out ideas to prevent tourists from peeing and pooping in the woods and parking lots at the townsite’s scenic spots.
Council has come up with a temporary solution to put porta-potties at busy Bow Falls and near the canoe docks on Bow Avenue until such time permanent washroom facilities can be built.
However, Town of Banff officials say because of Banff’s strict design guidelines and image as a world-class tourist hot spot, the portable toilets will be either clad in wood or surrounded by wooden fencing.
“We worked really hard to make sure our town is a place of great beauty for our visitors; we want to make sure our visitors are accommodated with high quality infrastructure,” said Darren Enns, director of planning and environment for the Town of Banff.
“A construction toilet simply doesn’t represent either of those things.”
While there is a strong case for permanent washrooms, Enns said, something is needed now though.
“It is something that is of an urgent nature in many of those locations as we have visitation pressures and everything that goes along with that … we’re seeing that in terms of fugitive waste showing up in our parking lots,” he said.
“We’re trying to strike a balance that doesn’t hinder expediency but doesn’t look like a construction site.”
At busy Bow Falls, four rented construction-style portable toilets will be located in the parking lot from May 1 to Sept, 30 each year. Other options are not currently available as they require a power source and water supply.
A permanent public washroom building is in Banff’s 10-year capital plan, but currently there is no funding identified for a specific year.
For 2024, the portable loos come with a price tag of $20,500 for wood screening and signage, plus $39,000 for rental.
“Administration proposes building wooden fences around the portable toilets, similar to those screening the Town’s residential waste bins,” said Paul Godfrey, the municipality’s director of operations.
For the canoe docks area, The Town will now buy a two-stall portable toilet facility, a sea-can container, which will be clad in wood.
There is a plan for permanent public washrooms at the corner of Bow Avenue and Wolf Street, with design in 2027 and construction in 2028.
“It is especially busy in summer with people accessing the canoe docks, river trails, and parking along Bow Avenue,” said Godfrey.
This temporary plan for portable toilets comes with a price tag of $70,650 in capital costs and $77,200 in operating costs, which includes contracting out the water and holding tanks servicing. The advantage of this option is heated stalls with sinks and running water.
One fear is tourists may still avoid using the portable loos.
“We see that around areas where we do have porta-potties, like for example the Liricon lot," said Godfrey. "We still find human waste in the fringes and on the edge because people do not want to use these facilities."
Coun. Grant Canning said it was worth testing use of portable toilets at these locations.
“Bow Falls has an awful lot of traffic down there, there’s an awful lot of pedestrians,” he said.
“You’re around a lot of rushing water, which we know, kind of gets you thinking along those same lines.”
Mayor Corrie DiManno, who was opposed to construction portable toilets at Bow Falls, said she wants council to consider permanent washrooms there sooner rather than later.
“We hold so many people to such a high standard to Banff design guidelines and it’s important that we hold ourselves to that standard too," she said.
