Editor:
Policy 18.2.15 in Canmore’s Municipal Development Plan requires that when an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is provided by the developer to address the impact of their proposed development on the Canmore community and environment, the Town will contract a qualified professional to conduct an independent third party review of the developer’s EIS.
However, in their request for decision for first, second and third readings on February 9, April 27 and May 6, 2021, respectively, Town planning staff chose not to mention the independent third party review of the developer’s EISs carried out by Management and Solutions in Environmental Science (MSES) on the TSMV Smith Creek and Village area structure plans. As a result, planning based their recommendations to council on TSMV’s ASPs only.
It should be noted that in the past, the third party review was referenced in the Town’s staff report to Council and often in its recommendations for a setback, such as the third party review by Komex International of the EIS for what is now the TSMV Village area, and by Iris Environmental Systems Inc. of the EIS for the Stewart Creek Golf Course Clubhouse.
It is particularly unfortunate that planning consistently excluded reference to the independent third party reviews of the TSMV Smith Creek and Village EIS’s from their request for decision since MSES found no scientific evidence to support wildlife fencing on the scale proposed by TSMV, and did not agree that setbacks or buffers to wildlife corridors are not needed.
In fact, MSES cited scientific data from a 2020 study carried out in the Bow Valley which recommends an effective corridor width to provide the minimum distance needed to reduce human influence on animal movement through the corridor, and concluded that the current Bow Valley corridors have no effective corridor width for grizzly bears, black bears, cougars or wolves.
As early as 2002, effective corridor width was recommended by Golder and zoned in 2004 in the TSMV Resort (now Village) area, is the current zoning in the 2018-22 land use bylaw, and is retained as private recreation in the 2016 MDP Map No. 2: Conceptual Land Use to seasonally increase the effective width and functionality of the Along Valley Corridor by 300 metre.
Should council decide to retain this 300m setback in the 2021 TSMV Village ASP, they would continue to ensure the corridor’s seasonal functionality which has had support from the community and councils since 2002, and at the same time remove any development and economic risk for the undermined land in this area which would otherwise devolve on Canmore and Albertan taxpayers.
Heather MacFadyen, chair
Bow Corridor Organization for Responsible Development
