Banff housing crunch tackled by town committee

A new housing strategy will be presented to Banff town council at the end of the month.

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It was put together by the Community Housing Strategy Committee, which is made up of housing experts, businesses and government representatives.

They have been digging intoBanff'sunique and chronic housing shortage since March 2013.

"We always have, and continue to have a struggle being able to house our workforce in town," said Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen.

"They are the lifeline of our business and so this council is determined to look at new solutions."

The town can't simply expand because its growth is limited by Parks Canada.

The problem

Banff's population is rising.

According to the latest census, about 9,300 people now live in the mountain town.Most communities expand their borders to make room for the extra people, but Banff can't do that because it's in a national park.

We have a footprint that's not allowed to grow.-housing committee vice chair StephenCrotty

The town has to find creative ways to fit everyone inside the boundaries set by Parks Canada.

"We have a footprint that's not allowed to grow.It's a finite boundary, and the housing just doesn't match the needs," said Stephen Crotty, director of Banff's YWCA and vice chair of the housing committee. "We have a shortfall of housing that's projected anywhere from 450 to 700 units."

It makes it nearly impossible for Banff's high population of tourism industry workers to find places to live. Most of them are between 18 and 25 years old, and are looking for rental accommodations.

Last year, the vacancy rate was zero per cent. The mayor says the rebounding economy and tourism industry has something to do with it.

"Of course that means businesses are busier, and therefore they need more staff, and therefore we have more people who need to come here and find places to live," said Sorensen. "So it's all good news, we just need to make sure that our workforce is well looked after."

The consequences

Chris Wright, a hotel front desk clerk, says something needs to be done.

He says a lot of young workers start out in staff accommodations, but don't want to stay for long because the rooms are often small and have to be shared. He feels fortunate that he found a place to live when he moved to Banff five years ago, but now he says it's nearly impossible.

"A lot of people, they move here and can't find a place, so they end up leaving town," said Wright. "It's just you can't make a home out of it, it's not like a regular city. You can't plan a life around it."

The Community Housing Strategy Committee recognizes that as a major problem.

"We have more transient population, people that don't live in suitable accommodations, families that can't live here and migrate to other communities because they can't get that one pillar that's so important," said Crotty.

The solution

The new housing strategy includes a wide variety of short-term and long-term actions the Town of Banff can take to address the shortage. It emphasizes the need for more rental units, community partnerships and monitoring.

It makes suggestions like partnering with others to develop residential units on their land, encouraging flex-style apartment units and taking another look at the town's height restrictions.

A large part of the strategy is education making sure all Banff residents are kept in the loop with new developments.

The committee wants to give people more opportunities to have their say as new housing projects wind their way through the approval process.

Public consultations on the housing strategy just wrapped up. The document will be presented to the town at the end of October. From there, the mayor and council will decide how and when to implement it.