Editor:
I attended the Monday (Feb. 10) Town of Banff Council meeting. I had intended to speak about my concerns regarding Caribou Properties’ proposed staff housing complex, in the 400 block of Beaver Street. My big concern, prior to the meeting, was what I consider to be the shortage of vehicle parking spots that is one component of this complex.
After listening to Mr. Jamie MacVicar’s presentation regarding the concerns that he and a united group of Banff residents share as regards this proposed staff housing complex I realized that parking was a minor problem when compared to the major problems that Mr. MacVicar pointed out.
Caribou wants to build a 38-unit apartment complex on three lots (Bob “Sharkey” Edwards’ former property). The complex, designed to look like five buildings, is meant to house between 150 and 200 mostly entry-level workers. These lots are zoned for high-density apartments. Nevertheless, that’s an awful lot of people to house in a three lot area that formerly housed approximately a dozen long-term residents.
The interior layout of many, perhaps most, of these 38 apartments are designed in a manner that more closely resembles the sort of staff dormitories that I lived in at Chateau Lake Louise during the ‘70s. Mr. MacVicar stated that they reminded him of an “overstuffed cruise ship.”
I can pretty much guarantee that no long-term Banff resident would want this complex to be dropped into their neighbourhood. A neighbourhood-destroying complex of this sort does not belong in a residential neighbourhood. Given the shortage of land within the Town of Banff I can think of only one location that is suitable for a complex of this sort – the Industrial Compound.
I urge all long-term Banff residents who oppose this project to inform mayor and council and/or committee head Alison Brewster at [email protected], of your opposition, otherwise you too could be faced with a monstrosity similar to this nightmare on Beaver Street.
Jon Whelan,
Banff
