Another great addition to Banff Avenue; right in line with the Banff Refreshing. It is getting green out here in the moutains. The afternoon rain showers have added some much needed colour to the valley and the flowers are starting to come to life too.
Banff Crag and Canyon - 26 May 2009
By Larissa Barlow Larissa@thecrag.ca
Sidewalk cafes will be a part of this summer in downtown Banff as council approved a pilot program for this year.
Council debated the merits of a test program for some time, but unanimously voted to approve the June 12 start date.
The proposal has the seating take up one metre of the sidewalk, leaving two metres for pedestrians.
Coun. Leslie Taylor was concerned about the space restrictions and tried to have council require three metres of clearance space, but she was outvoted.
“I’m concerned a three metre sidewalk is too narrow to accommodate this use,” she said.
She also floated an idea to prevent sidewalk seating on long weekends when there’s a lot of pedestrian traffic in town, but there was no support for that idea either.
“The only way we will know about pedestrian issues will be by testing the program,” said Coun. John Gibson, who noted he had received no complaints from the public regarding the proposal. “It’s the only way we will know if flow will work.”
Much of the pilot program guidelines have been taken from best practices from other communities that permit sidewalk seating.
Mayor John Stutz said having a larger space requirement like Taylor was suggesting would shut out some interested businesses and could create an unfair situation. With it only being a one-year project, it could be monitored to see how successful it was and if it was something that would be welcomed in the future.
“Let’s test it out in its most aggressive form,” he said. “Banff refreshing – talk about sidewalk challenges, and we got through it fine.”
If there are problems with space along the sidewalk, the town has included a provision in the program that allows them to make a business remove their sidewalk seating within 24 hours.
“In the unlikely event where we’d have to remove it all, that would be a worst case scenario,” said Randall McKay, the town’s manager of planning and engineering.
Council will hear back in October what businesses and pedestrians thought of the program. If successful, there is the potential it could become a yearly occurrence.
Because it is a pilot program, businesses will not be charged for participation. But if it is adopted as a yearly plan there will be a fee attached.
“The main purpose of this is to enhance the public space and improve the visitor experience,” McKay said.
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