Editor:
Bow Valley Builders and Developers Association (BOWDA) is a membership driven networking and advocacy group focused on the needs of the building and development
industry and related business in Canmore and the Bow Valley.
We now have over 180 members comprised of builders, developers, consultants and supporting businesses.
I am writing to respond to Mr. Falconer’s letter to the editor in the Rocky Mountain Outlook on Nov. 20, specifically as it relates to BOWDA’s involvement in the process of redeveloping the Old Daycare Lands.
We believe that the Old Daycare Lands belong to the entire community of Canmore, and we want to emphasize that BOWDA is not involved in, nor driving the redevelopment of these lands – only responding, like anyone else, to the Town’s proposal for redevelopment. Thus when the public invitation to the Nov. 1 design workshop was received, we encouraged our members to attend and participate.
The Old Daycare Lands have been (and had previously been) identified as a potential location for Perpetually Affordable Housing by the Town of Canmore. The major developers in Canmore (Silvertip Resort, Spring Creek Mountain Village, and Three Sisters Mountain Village Properties) all have been providing PAH in their developments.
The Old Daycare Lands site will help to fill part of the need for long-term PAH to make our community sustainable and, importantly, it will be in a centrally located site, improving walkability and affordability. BOWDA’s position and recommendation to the Town is that the Town should use this opportunity for redevelopment to provide PAH on the Old Daycare Lands in order to address what we consider is the key issue impacting the Town of Canmore … the lack of perpetually affordable housing.
We want to stress that PAH is not social housing, nor is it employee housing. PAH is market-restricted housing targeted at making our community sustainable. It can come in a variety of built forms: in Canmore, that means from duplexes to low-rise apartment-style structures. BOWDA supports the development of PAH in Canmore, and specifically on the Old Daycare Lands.
Thirteen of the approximately 60 people who attended the Nov. 1 design workshop were BOWDA members. I am very proud of these people who took time out of their weekend to lend their expertise for the benefit of the community. These people are passionate about Canmore, care about how the community is developed, and have experience in redeveloping existing sites so that the redevelopment fits in with the existing community.
I want to be clear that they were not attending the workshop to push any BOWDA agenda … some did not agree with BOWDA’s official position. All of the 13 attendees who are BOWDA members live in Canmore and pay Canmore taxes. As Canmore residents they no doubt feel their input into the use of a Town resource is as important as, and should be as welcomed as, that of any other resident of the Town.
BOWDA and our members are involved, engaged, informed and passionate about our community. I hope that Mr. Falconer and others from the surrounding community accept that we all work together to make this community what it is, even when our views sometimes differ.
Ron Remple,
BOWDA executive director
