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First reading given for commercial store, common amenity housing

“We need some creative solutions and a broad mix of housing and the common amenity housing piece is going to be a part of that puzzle. … I feel there’s value in this as being part of a transitional zone on the Bow Valley Trail. If it’s the sort of thing that helps keep a local business being viable moving forward, I think there’s value to that.”

CANMORE – An amendment to the Bow Valley Trail area redevelopment plan will head to a public hearing that could see a new furniture store built, but also come with much needed employee and common amenity housing.

Town council gave first reading on the proposed amendments for the ARP, which is in the Bow Valley Trail general commercial district, at 500 Bow Valley Trail that could ultimately see between 70 to 80 units of common amenity and employee housing built.

Council heaped high praise on the potential the building could bring, particularly in providing desperately needed employee housing to the community.

“We need some creative solutions and a broad mix of housing and the common amenity housing piece is going to be a part of that puzzle. … I feel there’s value in this as being part of a transitional zone on the Bow Valley Trail,” Coun. Jeff Mah said. “If it’s the sort of thing that helps keep a local business being viable moving forward, I think there’s value to that.”

As one of the greatest struggles in Canmore is finding – especially for the service-related workforce – it could bring an abundance in supply.

Coun. Wade Graham said the housing aspect was “critical and key” and that it is an “innovative idea”.

Frank Kernick, the owner and developer of Spring Creek Mountain Village (SCMV), said the intent is to have 90 per cent of bedrooms be for common amenity and the remaining 10 per cent for employee housing.

Kernick said the bulk of the units will likely be four bedroom with a common amenity area and that they toured employee housing in Banff to see what would work best. The common amenity will be for SCMV employees, but if there’s available units they could rent them out to other employers.

The furniture store will allow for up to 950 square metres of space, but will permit one bedroom on the second floor for employee housing and common amenity housing for every 20 square metres developed.

A bonus of 250 square metres for the furniture space will be permitted, but the additional housing will come at a bedroom per 10 square metres.

The report from McElhanney Ltd, which was prepared on behalf of SCMV, stated they’ve been working with Castle Mountain Home Furnishings on the project.

“This development provides them with the opportunity to invest in the long-term future of the business within Canmore by owning their own space,” the report noted. “They would be relocating their furniture store, of a comparable size, to this site from an existing location closer to Downtown.”

Castle Mountain Home Furnishings has been a long-time business in Canmore, but pay for rent at its Bow Valley Trail location and at the mercy of rent increases.

“Like everything in Canmore, you can get priced out of the market and if you get priced out of this market we might lose an important asset in this community,” Kernick, who will co-own the property with Castle Mountain Home Furnishings, said.

Kernick said with the store owners looking for a new place, he also was looking for a place to provide employee housing. He also said the aim is to break ground by September to provide staff housing for new hotels and the daycare in SCMV.

The existing store also has about 1,115 square metres (12,000-square-feet) for the store and 185 square metres (2,000-square-feet) for the warehouse. The new building, if approved, will provide 930 square metres (10,000-square-feet) for the showroom and 370 square metres (4,000-square-feet) for the warehouse.

Nathan Grivell, a development planner with the Town, also showed the sizing differences for the proposed building compared to Canadian Tire, Safeway and Save-On-Foods, which were three times as large as the proposed furniture store.

The staff report highlighted that medium wholesale stores are discouraged in the ARP and Municipal Development Plan (MDP) – which has a restriction of 150 square metres – to avoid large retail outside the downtown area.

But the report stressed the importance of housing needed, which is equally supported in the MDP.

The site is on an undeveloped portion of land to the east entrance of SCMV and occupies about 3,750 square metres.

The building is being proposed at four storeys, with the main floor for the furniture store and the remaining levels for employee and locals housing.

“As the Bow Valley Trail redevelops, it’s important that we are flexible and responsive to proposals that come forward,” Coun. Tanya Foubert said. “I think there are some definite benefits on common amenity housing.”

Common amenity housing was approved in the Town’s 2019 land use bylaw amendments and is designed to give another option of employee housing for developers.

The Town’s Municipal Planning Commission approved the community’s first common amenity housing project in Teepee Town last month.

The project – designed by Arbus Mountain Homes – will see six units created on 1st Avenue.

The public hearing will take place May 3 and two more readings by council are needed before it is approved, but early indications show the positive it could have in the community.

“What’s being proposed is running the right balance between allowing for an increased size and doing so in a way that does not open the floodgates, does not jeopardize the downtown and really is transition for something that exists in town to another location so it can serve the community better,” Mayor Sean Krausert said.

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