BANFF – The Town of Banff is looking to stop the practice of mailing postcards to notify neighbours of nearby proposed developments.
Banff town council has passed first reading of an amendment to the land use bylaw to allow this to happen and has set a public hearing for Jan. 10, 2022.
Town planners say they intend to focus on tools such as signs, web postings and email to residents about projects, saying the existing development permit viewer at https://permits.banff.ca offers a customized subscription service for individuals interested in development in the community.
“The notification postcard was part of a rebranding effort to make sure that Banffites were better aware of development in the community,” said Emma Sanborn, development planner for the Town of Banff.
“Our development permit viewer offers an option similar to the postcard and even more tailored and enhanced… so in a sense, we’ve got an offering that duplicates the notification postcard.”
Since 2019, the Town of Banff has been mailing out information to neighbours within 45 metres of a property when there’s a new development via a postcard, which included an image of the proposed development and a link to the Town’s development permit viewer on the website.
But a survey conducted on the website showed few people found the postcard helpful. Of 1,576 visitors to take the survey, only four per cent came to the website from the postcard, showing it to be the least effective mechanism at driving website visitation.
The website has a function allowing anyone to sign up for an email and customize the distance area so they can get notified when there’s an update in any areas they select, or the whole town.
Currently, 20 users have subscribed to receive email notifications about development permits in their areas of interest, and 71 users have subscribed for updates on specific permits of interest.
Sanborn said the development notification practices of Jasper, Edmonton, Victoria and Whistler – communities that send notification prior to a decision being made on a development permit application – are limited to applications with variances and/or applications that trigger a public hearing.
“Our current notification requirements go beyond the Municipal Government Act requirements for notification of development permits, and beyond the typical notification practices of other Canadian municipalities,” she said.
