Clearly, the issue of housing/staff housing/affordable housing is not one that’s going to go away any time soon in Banff.
The issue of affordable housing in the Bow Valley is one that has been on the front burner, off and on, for years and years. And years.
Now, though, it looks like the issue of affordable housing in the tourist town may become inextricably linked to the parking situation – right or wrong.
With Caribou Properties looking to build a 200-employee staff accommodation project, and with Birchwood Properties getting a development permit to develop a 38-unit rental complex (with reduced parking requirements) housing is back on the front burner again.
And, with some residents complaining about reduced parking quotas being allowed with accompanying construction, parking is on the burner right alongside housing.
Here at the Outlook, we realize that in often traffic-jammed Banff, parking and vehicular movement is a complex issue. We also realize that concerns that reduced parking quotas will add to the parking/traffic issue are valid.
But, we also must point out that any time there is a questionnaire, public forum, discussion, online or paper survey, the lack of affordable housing in Banff, like the rest of the Bow Valley, is front and centre. Those concerned with affordable housing include full-time Banff citizens and the many, many service workers that keep Banff running – the lifeblood of a tourist town like Banff.
There is no disputing that Banff is a tourist town that relies on a constant influx of service workers from outside the valley to staff the multitude of tourism-related businesses within it. Historically, it’s a fact of life in Banff.
It’s also a fact that all these service workers must have a place to live and, with Banff being a pedestrian-friendly town, many, but not all, of them arrive sans vehicles. Because one can hoof it around town with ease and, based on the excellent Roam bus system, Banff is ideally suited to vehicle-less staffers.
With both full-time citizens and service workers requiring housing that won’t break bank accounts, it seems to us that creating some form of affordable housing must, in some cases, trump parking and traffic concerns.
The thing is, Banff, unlike most communities, is federally limited as to its municipal footprint; it cannot grow and see residential neighbourhoods expanding into the forest and up the mountainsides. Therefore, lack of affordable housing requires a made-in-Banff solution that will somehow have to find a balance between housing and parking concerns.
Staff accommodation must be in the mix; nobody wants staffers living in closets, packed into garages or stuffed into unsafe, illegal suites.
Those who believe Caribou Properties’ 200-employee project, which has been dubbed “dormitory-style housing,” is unsuitable as it will see staffers living four to a room may have to wait and see what the market will bear in attracting staff.
Connie MacDonald, chief executive officer for Banff YWCA, said the most recent study from the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council is predicting a significant labour shortage for the tourism industry, and said affordable housing and transportation options are key factors in attracting employees.
In other words, Banff must rely on service workers, but if the town becomes known as one that offers only third-world hellhole accommodation, attracting vital service industry staff may become nearly impossible.
