At Monday’s (April 13) council meeting, Councillor Karlos asked the planning department to answer a question he had regarding the Land Use Bylaw (LUB).
Essentially (not a quote), the question was, “Who has the last word regarding the LUB.” Darren Enns, senior planner, essentially answered that (not a quote) “Parks Canada had the final say.”
I was allowed to address Mr. Enns’ response.
My observations of Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) and Development Appeal Board (DAB) decisions has caused me to disagree with Mr. Enns’ statement. Frequently, both MPC and DAB grant variances to the LUB when large business organizations request a variance. Consequently, I think that, ultimately, it is both the MPC and DAB that have the final say as regards the LUB. Usually these variances are recommended by the planning department.
Mayor Sorensen remarked that Parks Canada does have input on both MPC and DAB decisions as two of the seven members of both groups are Parks Canada employees. I countered that the opinions of the two Parks’ representatives are often overridden by the other five members of both quasi-volunteer organizations.
Fuji Starlight Express and Caribou Properties, both very large business enterprises, have both been granted numerous variances in the recent past. It seems that large business enterprises often receive numerous variances.
It also seems that the average Banff citizen (I’m thinking of the Enarsons and their vinyl picket fence) are rarely granted variances, likely as a result of a planning department recommendation.
Bottom line: the Land Use Bylaw sometimes becomes no more than a tokenistic document as LUB regulations can easily be ignored by both the MPC and DAB.
Perhaps some of the reasons Parks Canada has not signed off on the latest LUB amendments (Parks has been sitting on the document for over a year) are chronicled above.
Jon Whelan,
Banff
