BANFF – A proposal for a new bed and breakfast home in Banff has been denied because the neighbourhood’s quota has already been reached.
While council plans to dissolve the district quota system, Banff’s Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) has voted 4-2 to deny the development permit application for a commercial accommodation unit above a garage at 131 Wolverine St. – the Paris Home, which is listed on Banff's heritage inventory – as the current regulations governing B&Bs remain in place.
Officials say the plans for the B&B comply with all requirements of Banff’s bylaw except for the district cap, which most commission members determined was not minor in nature in order to meet the so-called variance test.
“The existing bylaw shows that neighbourhood is at capacity for permits,” said Chip Olver, who is a council representative on MPC, during its Nov. 13 meeting.
Proposed changes to B&B regulations, which passed first reading by council in May, include dissolving the district quota system. The proposal instead is to introduce a separation requirement immediately surrounding a B&B, and within three properties on the same street.
Council is retaining the current town-wide quota system of 65 – specifically setting aside 42 for B&B homes and eight for inns, which are more small boutique-like hotels in residential neighbourhoods. An additional 15 will be carved out of legally designated municipal heritage properties.
Second reading of the bylaw won’t be considered until Nov. 22. Following that, the B&B changes will be sent to the municipality's lawyers and Parks Canada for comment, before returning for third and final reading.
The Paris Home, which was built in the years following the Second World War and is considered a good example of a more common family home unlike the more lavish residences typically associated with Banff’s 1950s architecture, is located in the North Central (RNC) land use district.
This district has a quota of nine B&B homes. However, there are currently 13 approved B&Bs in that district.
The discrepancy is because land use district boundaries were modified in June 2024 to create cohesive districts and place similar residential areas together within districts as part council’s plan to increase density to deal with the town’s housing shortfall.
Town of Banff officials said while the RNC now has more B&Bs than are permitted for the district under the recent boundary changes, the adjacent Tunnel Mountain district (RTM) has only one approved B&B, as five of the B&B operations that were within the RTM are now within the RNC.
Kathleen Gallagher, development planner for the Town, said when considering both the RNC and RTM together, where nine and 10 B&B homes are permitted, respectively, she said 19 B&B homes are permitted in the two districts combined.
“Currently, the number of bed and breakfasts approved within the RNC added to the number within the RTM is 14, meaning that the approval of the bed and breakfast home proposed with this application would bring the total in these two districts to 15,” she said.
MPC chair Stavros Karlos said a development approving authority is allowed to approve a development permit if it does not conform to the bylaw but contributes to heritage preservation.
He said one solution would be to place a condition on the development permit for the property owner to legally designate the Paris Home as a municipal historical resource.
“I understand the re-districting that occurred during the bylaw change has pushed this district up over its allotted maximum number of bed and breakfasts, but without the updated bylaw, this is the only path that I can personally see towards approval at this time,” he said.
Olver disagreed, saying she appreciated the spirit of Karlos’ motion to preserve an historic property, but said that was just one part of the variance test considerations.
“I don’t believe the deviation from the bylaw is minor,” she said.
Along with Olver, public representative Tamra Malczyk, council representative Kaylee Ram, and Parks Canada representative Josh Simpson voted against the application, while Karlos was joined by Neil Wedin voting in favour. Leslie Taylor and Dana Humbert were absent from the meeting.
