Parks Canada letter forces Banff to pause pedestrian zone decision

Work to make the Town of Banff's pedestrian zone road closure a permanent seasonal feature has hit a road block.

The town received a letter delivered at noon the day before a special council meeting where approval of the town's budget would fund an annual summer and fall pedestrian zone permanently, after years of piloting the feature on Banff Avenue. 

The letter from Sal Rasheed, superintendent of Banff National Park, asks the town's mayor and council for a meeting ahead of any decisions on the Banff Avenue pedestrian zone. 

The request came out of left field for the municipality. 

"We need to understand why we received this submission at the 11th hour, so to speak, after four years of a pedestrian zone," said Mayor Corrie DiManno. 

She said the town's intentions to debate making the temporary pedestrian zone permanent were advertised, and paired with 13 hours of engagement. At a nine-hour committee meeting on Dec. 18, council voted to put the pedestrian corridor in place annually between the May long weekend and Thanksgiving weekend. Passing the budget would have made that decision final.

The superintendent's letter opens with Parks Canada stating it supports the pedestrian-friendly and public space elements of the pedestrian zone. But, Rasheed writes, the Banff Avenue pedestrian zone was first implemented as a pandemic measure, to allow for proper social distancing during the global pandemic. Those unprecedented times, he wrote, are over.

"The proposed ongoing commercial use (e.g., restaurant patios, outdoor merchandise displays) of public space, is contrary to the laws which ensure this special place is protected," Rasheed wrote. "We are reaping the benefits that have been sustained by successive governments at both the federal and Town of Banff levels. Maintaining the vision we have all agreed to … because Canadians and residents of Banff continue to tell us that is what they expect." 

Rasheed is referring to the 2022 Banff National Park Management Plan. 

Rasheed notes that a 2013 Alberta Court of Appeal decision concluded that in conflict or overlapping previsions, the Park Management Plan prevails over the Town of Banff Land Use Bylaw.  

"Are they suggesting a ban on restaurant patios in all areas of town such as Bear Street, Wolf Street, Caribou Street and elsewhere in Banff National Park at ski hills, Johnston Canyon and Lake Louise?" DiManno said during the meeting Wednesday. "The letter suggests all commercial use of public space is restricted."

The answer will affect what the town's plans for a pedestrian avenue look like. Closing Banff Avenue came at a cost, which was covered by $155,000 from restaurant and retail user fees for using the street, and $17,000 from revenue collected from visitor paid parking. If patios aren't allowed, the majority of funding for the pedestrian zone would need to come from other sources.

"It was a bit of a surprise, we've got some level of concern," said David Matys, the vice-president of Destination Development with Banff and Lake Louise Tourism. "Hopeful and anxious to hear what the outcome is of the conversation is between parks and the town." 

The tourism agency regularly survey visitors, and Matys said the pedestrian zone has overwhelmingly been an hit. Patios with a mountain view? It's one of the reasons he said visitors are making the trip to the mountain town. 

If patios aren't part of the picture going forward, he said, that doesn't give much time for his organization to react and adjust ahead of a summer season. 

"An empty roadway as a pedestrian zone isn't necessarily a great experience," Matys said. "Are the things to be done to create a great visitor experience that don't include retail and restaurants?"

The tourism agency shares the goal of protecting Banff National Park and managing the town's footprint. Matys said the visitor experience is one of the reasons people come to the park, so there has to be a balance.  

"It seems to me that right now there's just a little bit of confusion and a lack of clarity around this idea of outdoor patio and retail and how it contributes to commercial cap space," Matys said.

The Parks Canada letter suggested the town had committed to meeting about this issue before a decision to proceed. 

DiManno said the town told the superintendent in October that the pedestrian zone would be discussed on Dec. 18, asking for comments and input ahead of that meeting. The town didn't hear from Parks Canada.

"We believed the issue related to the pedestrian zone was done," she said. "Until I received a call from the superintendent on Friday, January 5th, to advise that the letter related to the pedestrian zone would be forthcoming."

CBC News has reached out to Parks Canada. The agency has declined to do an interview but released a statement late Thursday afternoon that largely reiterated the points made in Superintendent Rasheed's letter to council.

Describing the concerns expressed in the letter as relating to "a minor component of the proposal," the statement concludes by saying: "Parks Canada remains hopeful that ongoing discussions with the Town of Banff will result in an aligned outcome."

DiManno told the public during a Wednesday morning council meeting that council requested a meeting with Rasheed ahead of their planned council session but did not hear back in time. 

"We are not going to talk about the pedestrian zone today, we're not going to make any motions on the pedestrian zone today. That's going to happen on January 17th," DiManno said.