Businesses may be allowed to transfer commercial space from one property to another as a way to encourage reinvestment in the Town of Banff.
As well, there is a proposal to move away from the lottery system of handing out development space within the legislated cap to a merit-based scheme that rewards commercial development excellence.
Phase 2 of the land use bylaw review, which centres on commercial land use regulations, goes out to the public for further consultation, beginning this Saturday (March 26).
Officials say transferring floor space between properties would create a peer-to-peer market, thereby creating another source for space in addition to the commercial development allotment system.
“Because we are trying to encourage capital reinvestment, we need to figure out how to make that easy for people who want to reinvest,” said Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen.
“This is about deciding what’s the best thing for the town to do with the space that’s left and how do we ensure that appropriate development takes place.”
Under the proposal, transferability would allow the commercial floor area to be moved or sold between properties. Physical or legislative methods would ensure the ‘donating’ of space remains non-commercial.
The review team says it believes transferability should only occur between ‘like’ land use districts and should lead to the strengthening of the retail sector.
For example, transfers would be permitted within the commercial downtown, but there could be no transfer out in order to preserve the retail shops.
In 1998, the federal government set a commercial growth cap for the Banff townsite of an additional 350,000 square feet on top of what was already in place.
Since then, Banff has handed out that space through a random draw, with an annual growth rate limited to no more than 1.5 per cent each year.
Typically, the number of applicants entering the draw has suggested there is double to triple the demand for floor space compared to the available supply.
On the other hand, applicants may simply throw their hats in the ring, rather than seriously bidding for floor space, which may be reflected in the number of expired or returned allotments.
Of the 350,000 square feet, about 155,582 square feet has not yet been built. Of that, the Town of Banff holds approximately 35,000 square feet, which returned to the municipality when it expired.
The remaining space includes projects that do not have a development permit and may expire in the future, as well as projects that have received permits, but have not forged ahead with development.
Banff Caribou Properties, one of the biggest businesses in town, said transferability provisions are nothing new and development rights are often transferred to preserve value.
Gordon Lozeman, the company’s president, said the business community needs flexibility.
“We need to operate within that cap, but we also need to make sure that we can optimize our capped space by ensuring that it can move to locations of highest and best use,” he said.
Lozeman said a good example is the main floor of the staff residence on Bear Street, which is zoned ‘commercial’ but its current use is ‘residential’.
“We need to have mechanisms in place to ensure that commercial floor space could be transferred there because it would be a logical place for retail. Space could be transferred from existing commercial floor area that is less desirable, such as a basement or a third floor.”
“If we don’t have transferability, we’ll perpetuate the commercial-space mix that currently exists. We’d likely even lose space over time.”
As part of the land use bylaw review, the planning review team also believes it’s time to revamp the commercial development allotment process.
The team believes moving from a lottery system to a merit-based system will encourage serious applicants only and will lead to projects that will actually get built.
Criteria for a merit-based system could include quality of architecture, urban design and landscape, as well as landscape architecture, site design and pedestrian amenities.
As well, environmental performances could be considered, as well as impact on public infrastructure and servicing such as water, sewage, stormwater management, roads and garbage collection.
The criteria could also include how the development enhances Banff as an authentic mountain community and how it would be a community and visitor benefit.
Other options could include a hybrid lottery merit-based system, where applicants would have to demonstrate the ability to proceed with their proposal before entering a lottery.
An applicant’s ability to proceed could be linked to a reduced time horizon for building, or could be demonstrated through posting a performance bond to be released at construction.
“These steps may have the benefit of removing speculative applicants, but would still result in the ‘game of chance’ with respect to building quality,” according to the town’s website.
Another approach is to get rid of an allotment system altogether, and instead rely on density regulations such as floor area ratio to cap floor space.
The Banff Lake Louise Hotel Motel Association met with town council on March 23 to discuss its position on the land use bylaw review, but there was no comment before press time.
Further details on the land use bylaw can be viewed at www.banff.ca/ourlanduse
