Editor: Someone recently asked me, “Why should I care what happens with revisions to Teepee-town zoning? How does it affect me?”
Great question and perhaps there are others out there wondering the same. Here is my answer, in case it helps.
Teepee Town zoning amendments affect the entire town. If you care that people, especially young families, seniors, single income households and staff of all businesses are struggling to find a decent affordable home, this affects you.
If you care that small businesses are struggling to survive and some like Thai It Up closed because they could not maintain staff since their staff cannot afford to live here, then this affects you.
If you care that we cannot continue to expand this town out into wilderness areas without detrimentally affecting the wildlife that were here first, then this affects you. If you care that Teepee Town is highly visible from both the highway and Bow Valley Trail, which is the gateway to Canmore and gives the first impression to all passersby, visitors, and those who live here, then this affects you.
Town planners are putting together a proposal for some amendments to the zoning in this area and we have an opportunity here to not only enhance Bow Valley Trail, but also provide higher density affordable housing, especially for the properties directly neighbouring the Trans-Canada highway where views and light will not be affected for neighbouring properties.
We have very limited re-development land available in this town. If you feel this affects you, please get involved at the open houses and online discussions that will soon be solicited from the town planners.
A final note regarding Bow Valley Trail. The former planners of this town, in their wisdom, planted a whole bunch of trees along Bow Valley Trail on the south side for a reason. If these trees need to be cut down to accommodate building footings, then the building is too close and we will soon be driving down a dark tunnel.
Mari Ann Allan,
Canmore
