Under the altered heading “how not to win friends and influence council” could be listed those who approached Canmore council in regard to the old daycare site, Tuesday (June 3).
We realize everybody loves their green space in a town like Canmore, but, considering the site once witnessed the hustle and bustle of a daycare and, considering Lions Park is nearby, is it really a big stretch for the now-empty property to be considered a likely prospect for some form of housing?
We also realize the former daycare site is located in a neighbourhood which boasts R1 housing and there are those who would like to see that never change. We also realize this is the third time there has been discussion on the land’s usage.
But, with costs of mountain creek mitigation sure to rise and with the ever-present issue of a lack of affordable housing still needing to be addressed in the community, all options for the land in question must be considered.
And, with council directing administration to begin a public consultation process, an aggressive presentation at the podium and heckling by those present was likely the worst possible way to start that process.
In the end, what needs to be kept in mind is that the land the old daycare resided on for so many years is public land and therefore subject to the wishes of elected representatives.
Yes, it is in the midst of a neighbourhood, but the Town’s portfolio of land is limited. Further, putting affordable housing on the old daycare site would be in keeping with past projects where needed homes were built on public land.
Alternatives other than building on the daycare site could include a general tax increase to pay for further creek mitigation or the Town trying to buy affordable housing land at market prices – which would certainly prove to be too costly.
Possibly now is the time, as Roger Hodgson wrote in a Supertramp song, for area residents to “give a little bit.”
While Canmore is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, where many people choose to recreate, some because they do not dwell in homes featuring yards and picket fences, the town is not flush with land that could be sold and used for housing.
Rather than continue to balk at the idea of housing being constructed on the daycare site, it might behoove nearby residents to have input and work toward a project that they could actually support.
Affordable housing can take many forms, after all, from apartment-style blocks to row housing, duplexes, possibly small R1, or a mixture.
Or, being that the old daycare site is valuable, public, Town-owned land, we suppose there is the possibility it could be used to address another shortage – say a youth centre/clubhouse or an indoor soccer bubble, a couple more outdoors rinks, pickleball courts another group is calling for … Now that would be creative.
