BANFF – The Town of Banff is wasting no time spending some of the $4.66 million from the federal government in a bid to drive development of more residential units to deal with the community’s housing crunch.
On Monday (Feb. 26), council approved a spend of $369,600 from 2024-26 of Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) dollars for a two-year I.T. contract to develop an e-permitting system and a two-year development planner contract to aid with processing residential development permits.
Town of Banff officials say proposed policy and bylaw changes such as increased density and reducing parking requirements are intended to encourage housing development, which will increase the number of applications needing to be processed.
Dave Michaels, manager of planning for the Town of Banff, said the new planning position would focus on residential development applications, such as accessory dwellings, and aid in delivering faster processing times.
“Having an additional position in the planning department will really help us keep on top of the applications and process them as quickly as possible,” he said.
Banff's successful HAF application of $4.66 million was announced by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Sean Fraser on Feb. 19.
The funding will be provided in four instalments in March of each year from 2024-27, and as per the agreement signed with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), must be spent by January 31, 2028.
To unlock the full funding amount, Michaels said 240 new homes must be issued development permits by Jan. 29, 2027.
“Eighteen per cent of those new homes, or 43, are required to be affordable units,” he said.
Accessing the full amount is also contingent on the Town of Banff achieving the five approved initiatives outlined in the housing action plan, including land use bylaw amendments to increase residential density and reduce minimum parking requirements for residential developments.
Michaels said these bylaw changes should be coming to council for first reading in early March, followed by an extensive consultation period before a legislated public hearing and consideration of second and third reading by June.
“The hope is we can have an approved bylaw to the superintendent by the end of June,” he said.
The remaining three initiatives include the introduction of an accessory dwelling incentive program, development of an e-permitting solution, and providing financial tools and tactics to encourage residential development.
A financial incentive program to get accessory dwellings built was already approved on the 2024-26 operating budget at a cost of $265,000 per year.
The tiered incentive program includes $30,000 to encourage new accessory dwelling units; $10,000 for existing unapproved units to become legal; and $5,000 for condo association bylaw amendments to allow for accessory dwellings.
Mayor Corrie DiManno said she believes Banff’s successful HAF application will be a “real game-changer” in dealing with the housing shortfall of between 700-1,000 units.
“I feel like I am starting to get stories almost daily that are really heartbreaking around people’s housing situation and potentially having to leave town because they cannot find anything that is affordable or available,” she said.
“I have a real hope that this is going to usher in a new era of development in our town and it’s going to change the housing landscape for the better.”
Banff’s housing team has been looking into the feasibility of a 250-unit affordable housing development on a 5.8-acre parcel of land on the Tatanga bench lands at the north end of Banff Avenue.
Alison Gerrits, the director of community services for the Town of Banff, said the remaining $3,337,750 HAF funding can be directed toward any of expenditures approved by CMHC.
“Based on previous discussions with council, our impression that we’ve received to date is that these funds would be allocated to some below-market housing options that we’re contemplating,” she said.
