The Town of Banff plans to go to the public on a new policy that will outline once and for all the dos and don’ts of outdoor retailing and sidewalk displays in the tourist town.
Officials say a proposed policy aims to allow for a limited amount of outdoor retailing and merchandising for council’s consideration, as well a limited amount of outdoor rental sporting equipment, such as skis and bikes.
“The decision has been made to combine the two issues and have a policy that combines everything,” said Claire Wilkinson, a planner with the Town of Banff.
“We want to provide some clarity on the overall issue. Currently, you see all sorts of things, from planter boxes to seating areas and rental equipment, but there’s no framework that currently exists to encompass everything.”
In January this year, council decided to enforce a 20-year bylaw that bans the display of merchandise on downtown sidewalks to ensure the streetscape is aesthetically pleasing to the visitor experience.
At the same time, they also directed administration to draft a policy that would allow a limited amount of outdoor display for outdoor activity equipment that is for rent.
But following an outcry from retailers earlier this summer over the Town of Banff’s crackdown on outdoor retailing, which resulted in warnings and fines issued against businesses, council called a special meeting to deal with the issue.
Council decided to back off active enforcement and also directed administration to draft a new policy that would allow for a limited amount of outdoor display, merchandising and street retailing for council’s consideration.
Wilkinson said she has been doing research on the types of outdoor rental equipment allowed to be displayed in other resort municipalities, including Whistler, B.C. and Aspen and Telluride, Colo., in the United States.
But, she said, she plans to extend that to include other outdoor retailing.
“I’ve been doing comparative research purely on rental and it represents all sorts of opportunities,” she said.
“We currently see bikes and skis and snowboards, but I wanted to look into it a bit more to see if other resort municipalities have anything else. There’s snowshoes and paddling and climbing equipment.”
Wilkinson said the planning and development department will talk to the business community this fall to seek feedback on priorities, concerns and suggestions on outdoor displays, merchandising and street retailing.
“The feedback provided will supplement existing policy research to date and will be useful for administration to address specific areas of concern that arose as a result of recent enforcement action,” she said.
The Town sent 46 letters to businesses with outdoor retail displays and merchandising, as well as advertising signage on July 17. Formal warnings were given to businesses on July 20.
Following that, $50 fines were issued to three businesses on July 24, followed by $250 fines for two businesses that refused to take down their outdoor displays.
