Editor: The parking appeal of the Deer Lane Housing project was withdrawn on Feb. 22, even though we still believe a 44 per cent reduction in parking will significantly impact neighbours.
Why withdraw the appeal? The answer is that the Town of Banff changed the law between the date of its development permit application and the date of the appeal, entirely in its favour. The substance of our appeal was ripped out beneath our feet.
The Deer Lane Housing project now becomes a story of why the Town should not be engaging in capital projects that are the purview of private developers. The Town took five months to draw up a landscape plan, but it only took the Town 42 days from the date of our appeal to change a law that, in all likelihood, will alter the face of Banff neighbourhoods forever.
The Town has tools, powers and resources no other developer has; as soon as they hit a regulatory issue (the cost of providing parking), the Town changed the law. What developer would not want to amend laws that interfered with their project? The temptation must have been irresistible, and compelling enough, to ignore the moral and ethical issues.
The Town, during public hearings and in their media blitzes, claimed that bylaw changes were needed as an incentive for developers to create more housing, but it is obvious to all concerned that the change was made for its own development. In reality, with the Deer Lane development, the Town is now subsidizing those businesses that have failed to invest in staff accommodation.
In the end, a small group of neighbours working in a volunteer capacity could not match the resources of the Town with their army of full time staff working on the project. As concerned residents, our opportunity for change will be to elect strong councillors capable of independent thought during the municipal elections this fall.
Ken Beatty,
Banff
