CANMORE – An ask for a closed door bylaw in Canmore by a Bow Valley organization will have Town staff review options before returning to council later this year with possible recommendations.
Town council directed staff to look at options after the Bow Valley Clean Air Society (BVCAS) presented the request to council at its June 7 meeting.
Though a bylaw could be considered, multiple council members said they hoped to avoid a potential “heavy handed” approach and work closely with businesses and the community to achieve the Town’s climate action goals.
Coun. Jeff Hilstad said he hoped a bylaw would be a “last resort” and that the educational route is the direction ultimately selected.
He also hoped regional organizations such as the Canmore Downtown BIA, Bow Valley Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Canmore Kananaskis are involved in the discussions.
“I hope we don’t have to go to a bylaw because it feels heavy handed at this point. … There’s different reasons people leave their doors open,” Hilstad said. “It may be a marketing ploy, but I think a little more education to get people on board with our climate action goals is a better first step in my mind than going straight to the heavy handed bylaw approach.”
The BVCAS ask came after the group had done 11 surveys along Main and 10th streets between March 3-23. A 12th survey was done on a cold day on April 12. BVCAS is hoping for a Canmore bylaw to mandate closed doors from September to June.
Temperatures ranged from -5 Celsius to 15 Celsius and BVCAS found 184 incidences of doors being open, of which 155 were on Main Street.
“We are proposing a wider range of months than Banff. Our analysis shows that as outside temperatures increase, the energy loss per door goes down as expected. However, because there are many more doors open as outside temperatures increase, the overall energy loss is still significant up to 15 Celsius,” stated the BVCAS submission.
BVCAS estimates there are 32 tonnes per year of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on Main Street-based from April 13, 2021 to April 12, 2022, which it stated are roughly 53 roundtrip flights from Calgary to Toronto. The group said that amounts to about $5,600 a year.
The calculations of GHG emissions were done with doors being open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. that determine air flow, heat loss and GHGs.
“These GHG emissions could be completely eliminated by simply closing doors,” the BVCAS submission stated.
The BVCAS noted in December 2018 it made efforts to work with downtown stores by handing out a sign for each store that said the door was closed to save energy, but the store was still open.
However, the BVCAS submission stated it was “not well received” and only 10 shops – six in Canmore and four in Banff – took the sign.
Though the BVCAS surveys focused on the downtown area, Coun. Karen Marra noted any bylaw would be town-wide and not specific for any one section of Canmore.
Stefan Bullock, the executive director of Downtown Canmore BIA, said the organization is hopeful for a more educational route in getting businesses to close doors as opposed to a bylaw.
“Our reasoning is severalfold, ranging from the common-sense nature of the problem and its obvious solution to concerns regarding the evenness of enforcement and the resources it would require to the practical reasons some members might have to need to vent their businesses regardless of outside temperature,” he said. “We look forward to working with administration in the development of such a firm educational policy.”
Coun. Jeff Mah, council’s representative for the Downtown BIA, also highlighted the importance of discussing any plans with businesses. He gave the example of a business with ovens opening the door to remove heat instead of running an air conditioner, but also wondered how much extra work it would place on municipal bylaw officers.
“A little bit of nuance is helpful,” he said.
Banff adopted a closed door bylaw earlier this year that will see doors shut from the Tuesday after Thanksgiving Day to the last Friday in April. However, doors can be open when the temperature is above 10 Celsius.
Both Banff and Canmore have climate action goals, which are part of any debate when considering and making policy decisions.
“We all say we have clear goals in terms of climate change and it doesn’t necessarily mean when it’s convenient to address climate change," said Coun. Joanna McCallum. “But sometimes when it’s inconvenient and sometimes that means closing our door or the host of other options available as members of this country and community in how we make changes in our lives every day to combat and wrestle this big problem we have.”
