Residents of Marten Street in Banff are voicing concerns over a big parking problem on their street, arguing approval of a 25-unit residential apartment building with a reduction in the number of onsite parking stalls will make the problem worse.
Banff’s municipal planning commission has approved the development with a reduction in required parking from 27 to 18 under policy C122 – a contentious policy that allows for fewer parking spots under certain criteria to encourage development of rental housing in Banff.
Residents say they support the development and need for additional housing to deal with Banff’s housing shortage, but argue 18 stalls in an underground parkade is inadequate and will force more cars onto the already busy street.
They say motor coaches, RVs and tourist traffic use Marten Street as a short cut and for parking. As well, they say, it’s become overflow parking for nearby hotels, making it impossible to get a parking spot after 6 p.m.
“The lack of sufficient parking will further clog up the streets and cause unnecessary hazards,” said Bob Goode, a board member of the 426 Marten Street Condo Association.
“I think it’s a wonderful development, I really do, but I have serious objections to the parking. It’s unacceptable.”
Two bungalows at 431 and 433 Marten Street will be demolished to make way for a three-storey, 25-unit apartment development, made up of 21 one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom apartments
Apartment housing is a permitted use in the RCR Rabbit Cougar land use district.
Officials with the development company Larr Management Corporation say they understand concerns of neighbours, but indicated they have played by the rules under the municipality’s existing bylaws and guidelines.
“I know parking’s an issue. It’s the same thing when we come here for a visit too. It’s hard to find parking,” said Chris Ferguson, a development manager with Larr.
“With the current design we’ve kind of maximized space on the lot, still taking into consideration all the other issues we had to meet,” he added.
“For the parking, we’ve maximized that space as much as we can, and I do understand those issues, but currently we meet most of the bylaw obligations.”
Gerry Perran, another resident in the 400 block of Marten Street, said the parking problem is ongoing on his street as with many streets in Banff.
“On any given day or evening, to park is a crapshoot at best,” he wrote in a letter to MPC.
“The town isn’t getting any bigger but the parking problem is. By relaxing the rules to the underground parking, you’re just compounding the existing problem.”
MPC thought its hands were tied because of the existing C122 policy, but members successfully passed a motion to have council review the policy as soon as possible because of the effects on neighbourhoods.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to support developments that utilize C122. It needs to be addressed at the council table and the sooner the better,” said Brian Standish, a council representative on MPC.
“As I’ve sat on MPC, we’ve seen probably a dozen applications that use C122, and I’m not saying they’re all bad, but it’s raising concerns within the community and it’s changing the neighbourhoods.”
Ted Christensen, another councillor on MPC, voted against the development, saying he could not support any relaxation on the number of parking stalls because parking is maxed out on Marten Street
“C122 is a broader based bylaw governing the whole town; this is a specific area with specific parking concerns. It’s full,” he said.
“This is about quality of life. Parking is the critical aspect in my mind and we have the capability of creating enough parking if we don’t use the variance.”
Residents also expressed concerns over a communal fire pit on the property and the need for an in-house manager for the apartment complex. Based on concerns, the developer agreed to remove the fire pit from the design and said there will be an onsite manager.
