The owners of Banff Caribou Properties are voicing support for a public consultation process on their vision for the Banff train station lands – as long as it is not too onerous.
“Hopefully, the process won’t be too onerous. It could be a lot of discussion for not very much square footage,” said Gordon Lozeman, president of Caribou Properties.
Banff Caribou Properties has been given a permit to redevelop the century-old train station, but their plans for the area also envision commercial retail, which could include gift shops and dinner theatres.
On June 25, council said they wanted the company to host a public open house on the proposed additional uses to the railway land and the municipality would follow it up by soliciting feedback on their website.
Council also directed administration to ensure Parks Canada and Canadian Pacific Railway are given early notice of the public consultation so there are no last-minute surprises over the reversionary clause.
That clause, in general, means when railway lands stop being used for railway purposes in national parks, the federal government has the right to take back the land or sell it.
“The previous ARP (Area Redevelopment Plan) process got derailed by the reversionary clause,” Councillor Leslie Taylor said.
“We could go through all of this stuff and put new uses into the bylaw and the reversionary clause could come back to bite us.”
Lozeman said he agreed that it’s appropriate for Parks Canada to be involved in any discussion on uses.
“That’s why it makes sense for uses to be discretionary,” he said.
“Any use is either permitted, discretionary or not permitted at all. The more uses that are not permitted at all, like the proposed ban on any form of retail, the less feasible the project is.”
Caribou Properties secured a long-term lease for the site in March last year after lengthy negotiations with Canadian Pacific Railway.
