The Town of Banff wants to build several multi-million tourism-related projects – but it can’t afford to.
An $18.4 million intercept parkade, a $3.8 million redevelopment of Bear Street into a pedestrian and cycling friendly commercial district and a $3.6 million pedestrian bridge from Central Park to the Banff rec grounds have been pitched as part of the 2014-2023 capital plan.
Banff politicians this week turned down the big budget projects for now as they, along with the resort towns of Canmore and Jasper, continue lobbying the Alberta government for sustainable funding sources and recognition as unique tourism communities.
Mayor Karen Sorensen, who voted against all three projects at a budget meeting Monday (Jan. 20), said she would like to present the province with a list of visitor-oriented projects Banff would like to do, but can’t afford on a tax base of 8,000 residents.
“I don’t think they need to be convinced we’re an iconic destination and the Bow Valley drives tourism, and they’ve asked us what we would like to do if we had additional funds,” she said.
“I think there are some really good examples in our capital plan that we as a municipality would like to do for visitors and our residents … we need to package these projects up with pretty pictures and dollars and cents and present them.”
Banff is working with Canmore and Jasper to build an evidence-based case on why tourist towns have unique challenges compared to traditional towns. Banff has long been lobbying for alternative and diverse revenue sources and financing tools.
In fact, of the $37.9 million in new projects proposed in the Town of Banff’s 2014-2023 capital budget, $29.3 million of those are considered by administration to be oriented towards visitors.
The pedestrian bridge has been considered for many years because the location provides a connection with residents of Cave Avenue and Birch Drive, as well as providing a link between Central Park and the Banff recreation grounds.
Town officials say winter crossings on the ice are common in this location, leading to concerns over safety.
They say design work has been carried out on a structure type and layout that could meet the requirements for trail connections, would eliminate the “moustache” proposed in the 2007 design and result in minimal effects to Central Park.
Randall McKay, the Town of Banff’s planning and development manager, said a pedestrian bridge in this location is part of the vision of the 1992 Downtown Enhancement Concept.
“People forget there has been a long-term plan to have a bridge in this location,” he said. “This is a conceptual plan, but trying to protect the view corridor to the Bourgeau range to the west is key.”
Sorensen said this is a great project and wants to see it eventually built.
“This will be beautiful, but I think based on our capital reserves at the moment for the next years, it’s a big ask,” she said.
The Town of Banff has also considered developing Bear Street as a “woonerf,” which is a street that would be designed for pedestrians and cyclists, while also accommodating vehicles.
The concept is intended to encourage walking and cycling and to increase pedestrian traffic, resulting in increased revenue for businesses. The woonerf concept would be designed to improve connection between Banff Avenue and Bear Street.
Officials say pedestrian counts at the intersection of Bear and Caribou streets were around 17 per cent of the count on Banff Avenue – 925 people per hour versus 5,357 per hour during peak periods.
They say the woonerf project could involve installation of urban parklets in some sections of the parking lanes, in summer months only, at a cost of about $25,000 each. Council could work on a cost-recovery plan with businesses willing to participate.
Only councillors Grant Canning and Chip Olver voiced support for moving ahead with the woonerf idea proposed in the budget for 2014-1016, saying it would enhance the street and be a great experience for tourists.
Canning, who was given advice he did not need to declare a conflict of interest because he owns a coffee shop on Bear Street, said he was disappointed with how the vote played out, but understands it’s a big price tag.
“The feedback I have received from businesses on Caribou, Wolf and Bear streets is they want to see improvements along those roads just like on Banff Avenue with Banff Refreshing,” he said. “I think it would enhance the visitor experience because Bear Street is a destination unto itself.”
Sorensen said she loves the idea of the woonerf and would love to see Banff do it.
“That being said, clearly this is very visitor focused and I continue to try and stay optimistic about the fact that eventually the province will support the fact Banff faces challenges providing visitor experiences other communities don’t have,” she said.
An $18.4 million parkade won’t get full support any time soon, either.
Many councillors wanted to wait on the outcome of this year’s paid parking discussion which, if approved, would provide the municipality additional revenues. They also shied away from the rough estimate of a two to three per cent tax increase to fund it.
Sorensen also pointed to ongoing discussions with the province on potential for alternative revenue sources.
“This is one of those projects we would like to build and need to build because of our visitor population,” said Sorensen.
The transportation master plan shows an existing parking shortfall of 125, jumping to 350 shortfall in 10 years and 600 in 20 years. The parkade would be 240 stalls, based on a cost of $70,000 per stall.
Councillors Stavros Karlos and Brian Standish voiced support to put the parkade on the books for construction 2017-2018, saying it would stimulate discussion and debate in the community.
“This project needs to end up on the books so we can have good community debate,” said Karlos. “This is far enough out that design doesn’t happen until 2017. We can see what people are thinking.”
Council did approve other lower cost visitor-oriented projects, including $609,000 for a comprehensive off-street Smart parking system, with $15,000 for design in 2015 and $590,000 for installation in 2016.
The project would involve configuring the Town’s off-street parking stalls with smart parking technology. This would include individual stall monitoring, as well as satellite directional signage at key decision points to guide visitors to available parking spots.
Council also gave the nod to the east connection of the Legacy Trail to the townsite this year, with a $350,000 price tag. This involves continuation of the Legacy Trail from its termination at Marmot Crescent.
In addition, they’ll spend $35,000 this year for a downtown pedestrian counter to collect raw data. Six pedestrian counter stations will be placed on the 100 and 200 blocks of Banff Avenue, Bear Street and the adjoining sections of Wolf and Caribou streets.
Potential technology includes ultrasonic overhead sensors, at-grade infrared detectors, or Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-enabled radio detectors.
Sorensen said the municipality has a responsibility to invest in visitor experience projects.
“Some of the smaller ones we have supported, but when it gets to those higher price tags, when the province asked us what we would like to do with additional funds, these are some of those,” she said.
In British Columbia, the government set up a revenue sharing agreement in 2006 to allow resorts to share a portion of the province’s hotel tax to invest in local tourism related projects and programs.
A 2007 report, titled the Minister’s Council on Municipal Sustainability, concluded Alberta municipalities face significant funding shortfalls that threaten their ability to provide infrastructure and services demanded by a rapidly growing economy.
The report suggested the Alberta government consider enacting enabling legislation to allow municipalities to levy and collect, at their discretion, additional own-source revenues to strengthen municipal coffers. Some of those recommended revenue measures included an amusement tax, municipal sales tax, tourism tax, property transfer tax, gas tax or vehicle registration tax.
A spokesperson for Alberta Municipal Affairs did not get back to the Outlook at press time.
– With files from Tanya Foubert
