Canmore’s proposed Municipal Development Plan has a brand new section in it to address development along steep creeks after the June 2013 floods demonstrated the waterways have the potential to destroy homes and infrastructure.
The steep creeks section of the plan, in the overall hazards and development constraints section , sets out a hazard and risk approach to managing development in areas adjacent to steep mountain creeks prone to debris flows and floods.
“This is a brand new policy and fairly brand new for Alberta,” said development planner Tracy Woitenko. “We tried to be diligent and comprehensive, as there are significant impacts on homeowners.”
The draft MDP was out for public feedback and Woitenko presented the results to council in December. She said administration feels it has a good handle on the input for the steep creek section and recommended several changes.
“There was a general level of support, but there are still a lot of concerns about the policy from impacted homeowners,” Woitenko said.
To begin with, she said, feedback indicated some felt the risk tolerance level used was not appropriate – either too high or too low. The risk tolerance criteria was established for groups within an acceptable or as low as reasonable practicable range, for individuals as below 1:100,000 for new development, and for existing development where there is no increase in density or dwelling units the individual risk is below 1:10,000. Woitenko recommended no changes to those levels.
Another issue that came out of the consultation process is that the provincial guidelines for hazard and risk assessments have not been formally accepted, yet Canmore is using that approach in the MDP.
Woitenko said the hazard and risk approach has been developed locally alongside provincial guidelines for steep mountain creeks and recommended keeping it in the MDP and continue to use a risk-based approach to create policy for future development. The MDP sets out a development hold zone for areas considered at high risk for debris floods until mitigation can be developed to reduce that risk as well as return periods over a one-in-100 year event. Woitenko recommended keeping the risk-based approach and return periods currently in the draft document.
The draft MDP set out that new development would not be allowed in a development hold zone, which is applied to Cougar Creek only at this time. But Woitenko said due to the fact there are a number of vacant lots that would be affected by the change, administration recommended changes.
“We do know there are 10 vacant residential lots as well as two vacant commercial,” she said. “Administration’s recommendation is to include high and moderate hazard areas only within the development hold zone and secondly to consider land use regulations that accommodate development on existing vacant parcels as well as lower risk development on commercial lots.”
Essentially, Woitenko said, allowing development on those vacant lots would not increase density or development beyond what is currently allowed and should be considered if proposed.
High levels of the Bow River, causing concern in the community for overland flooding, also accompanied the 2013 mountain creek flooding seen in Canmore. While the province is undertaking a hazard assessment currently for the Bow, and assessing whether mitigation in place is still sufficient, Councillor Sean Krausert suggested the MDP should reflect that process.
Krausert put forward a successful motion to include a policy statement in the MDP that the municipality will work with, and advocate to, the province for flood mitigation on the Bow.
“It should be included in there specifically,” he said. “It is a provincial area, but it is important our plans reflect we are in fact doing what we can to ensure proper flood mitigation.”
Go to www.canmore.ca for more information on the draft MDP and the public feedback received.
