Housing Action

2. Changing Land Use Bylaws to allow more housing density

The Town is proposing changes to the Land Use Bylaw, which sets rules and regulations for how new development or redevelopment occurs. The changes are aimed at allowing greater housing density, which should gradually create more housing units. The proposed changes are:

A) Remove Parking Requirement – The proposed change would remove the requirement for new housing developments, including adding dwelling units to existing homes, to include parking within their site. Developers and property owners will determine the amount of parking to meet the demand of their future residents.

Currently, the Land Use Bylaw requires that a minimum number of on-site parking stalls be provided for all housing developments. This parking requirement is the main limiting factor for those who want to add additional rental suites (accessory dwellings) to their property.

The proposed changes to remove on-site parking requirements would mean that anyone building new homes or adding a rental suite to their home can provide as much, or as little, on-site vehicle parking as they deem suitable for tenants. When on-site parking is provided, it would still have to meet the design requirements for size and location of the stalls.

B) Increase allowable size to building requirements

A number of changes are proposed that would allow bigger residential buildings to be built to provide more housing. Each of the town’s 23 residential areas (Land Use Districts) would be categorized as either higher-density, medium-density or lower-density districts and would have regulations to match. The changes to the regulations would include:

Increase Height Allowances – This proposed change would increase the allotted height for each district to allow more space for housing. Currently, maximum residential building height varies between 8 metres and 11.5 metres depending on district (measured from the ground to the middle of a building’s roof). The proposed changes would allow:

Setback Requirements and Landscaping – the proposed changes would reduce the distance a new residential development or redevelopment would need to build from the public road and the neighbouring lots (property lines). The changes also propose to focus on the minimum area of a lot that must be landscaped.

Maximizing Floor Area Ratio – Floor Area Ratio is the total floor area across all floors of a building/buildings on a site. Floor Area Ratio is calculated by dividing the gross floor area by total site area. The proposed changes would increase the total floor area that could be built on a site in all residential areas in Banff. This is also proposed to be done on a sliding scale where more floor area can be built when more homes are proposed.

The proposed changes would also remove a minimum and maximum size that a residence could be. This will increase the flexibility in design, while maintaining provincial building code requirements for minimum areas.

C) Simplified Housing Types Allowed in More Areas – The proposed changes would simplify the definitions of different residential housing types and define which housing types are allowed in the lower-, medium-, or higher-density areas.

These residential uses are either permitted (allowed by right), discretionary (allowed in suitable situations), or not allowed. The boundaries of some residential areas are also proposed to change to allow the higher density areas where they are closer to essential services, employment and transit.

To see the difference between the current requirements and the proposed requirements in your neighbourhood, please explore the interactive map.

The Town is hosting opportunities to learn more about these changes and provide your input. Banff Town Council is also holding a Public Hearing on June 10. Learn more and provide your feedback at BanffViewpoints.ca/HousingAction

No matter which changes are selected to stimulate more housing density, the change will be gradual and more than 90% of residents living in Banff will see only minor changes. Since the average lifespan of a house is approximately 50 years, then redevelopment of a site can reasonably be said to occur once every 50 years. Change will not be instantaneous. For example, looking at the last decade, there were only a total of 30 new dwelling units created per year, and that includes the Town’s new apartment buildings.

The Town will continue to apply its strict Banff Design Guidelines to all new housing redevelopment, to ensure our community character is upheld.

3. Changing Banff’s Housing Policy

While the Land Use Bylaw dictates how housing can be developed, the Housing Policy outlines how housing needs can be met. The two main changes to Housing Policy C3002 are the following:

1. If a net new bedroom is required as per commercial, government, or institutional intensification, that net-new bedroom needs to be built in a net-new dwelling unit. The previous policy allowed for new bedrooms to be added to existing dwelling units in town. Ensuring that required housing translates into new units as opposed to bedrooms in existing units, will better address the housing shortfall in town and better address the intent of the Housing Policy.
2. The previous policy allowed for commercial, government, or institutional intensification to purchase bedroom credits from housing projects that were adding net new bedrooms to town. A review of the past 7 years of bedroom credit purchases revealed that this option most often connected those with a housing requirement need, with those who were already developing net new dwelling units (as opposed to instigating new dwelling units to be built). The updated Housing Policy C3002 removes the option to purchase bedroom credits from a third party who is developing new bedrooms. Those commercial, government, or institutional projects who have a housing requirement have two remaining options:

• build net new dwelling units
• pay the cash-in-lieu fee to the Housing Reserve (a reserve used for advancing housing in the community, recent benefitting projects include The Aster and Ti’nu)

Housing demand study

Housing requirements are established in the Land Use Bylaw. When commercial, government, or institutional intensification occurs, the Land Use Bylaw dictates the amount of housing that must be built or paid for in cash-in-lieu to the town to be directed to the Housing Reserve. The town is about to embark on a housing ratio study, to ensure that the number of bedrooms required with each commercial, government, or institutional use is correct. We expect the results of that study in the summer of 2024, at which point Council may wish to use that information to update the Land Use Bylaw requirements and reconsider the current cash-in-lieu of housing rate.

4. Incentives for homeowners to add rental suites in their homes

The Town has approved an Accessory Dwelling Unit Incentive Program. This will provide financial support to homeowners who would like to develop a legal rental suite within their property.

This program also will develop information documents and a streamlined process to help homeowners understand where they can add dwellings (e.g. in the yard, attached to garage, contained suite in existing house), what is required, and grants and fee-waivers that will be available. The program will launch in summer 2024.

5. Increasing Taxation on Vacant Land 

The Town of Banff is creating a new taxation class for vacant land with a higher tax rate to motivate the property owner to develop housing. Some vacant properties are considered speculation properties, where owners keep the land vacant, waiting for increase in potential sale price. With no new land available for development, the Town wants to implement financial tools to stimulate housing development.

The Town is also exploring creating a special taxation class for underutilized properties that could be subdivided or further developed with new housing dwellings.

Banff Town Council also reduced the fee for residential building permits and is examining how to reduce the fees for subdividing properties to allow more housing development.

6. Faster permitting and planning support to accelerate private housing development

This project will introduce an e-permitting solution to streamline application and processing for housing development. The Town is adding resources to support private housing redevelopment.

Housing Accelerator Fund

On February 19, 2024, the Government of Canada announced $4.66 million in support to Banff through the Housing Accelerator Fund. The funding serves as a catalyst for Town-led housing projects, incentives for homeowners, and resources to speed up the development permit process for private construction. The process will produce at least 240 new housing units by 2027.

• Details are available on the news release

Council Reports

• May 23, 2023 Cave Avenue Affordable Housing Development
• Sept. 25, 2023 Housing Policy Amendments
• Nov. 29, 2023 Housing Policy C012 and Business License Bylaw 22-10
• March 25, 2024 Proposed Bylaw 483 – A Bylaw to Amend the Land Use Bylaw to Increase Residential Density
  • What We Heard Report - Proposed Land Use Bylaw Changes