Rob: Three Sisters Mountain Village have released their Area Structure Plans for the Resort Centre (now called Three Sisters Village) and for Smith Creek. Those will be in front of council at some point in the near future, but right now the community can take a look at them and start to get a sense of what the future of Canmore might look like in those two areas.

Tanya: It’s really great for these draft documents to be out and people have an opportunity for feedback before it becomes an actual application to council. The community would be well advised to be engaged in this process because these two Area Structure Plans represent 80% of the developable land left in Canmore. There’s always debate around the interplay between wildlife and development, and ensuring that whatever gets built meets the standards that we have as a community to coexist with wildlife.

Rob: There are people in this community that want to be having the conversation – should we even be developing those areas at all? That’s definitely a valid viewpoint, but that’s not really the conversation that we’re having right now, is it?

Tanya: No, that decision has already been made for us. The practical approach, and the approach with the legislation that respects the fact that the landowner does have a right to develop the land, the conversation becomes – how is it developed? There are factors that are at play for Three Sisters lands that you wouldn’t find in any other company’s development in Alberta that include things like steep creeks and undermining. There is an environmental impact assessment and a bunch of studies that are submitted alongside an application like this. We’re also talking about management of human beings. We have these wildlife corridors that have been set aside, but how effective are these corridors if we continue to go inside them? The only time we should be in a corridor is when we’re on an approved trail.

Rob: There’s a sentiment in the community that Canmore council is very pro-development and they’re just going to rubber stamp whatever’s thrown at them. I don’t get that impression. With the public presentation that the Alberta government made to council regarding the wildlife corridor, there were a lot of tough questions asked. I really think that this is a council that recognizes development rights have been given a long time ago, but they’re not going to just let the developer build whatever they want. They’re going to be really scrutinizing this and making sure that it’s types of development that are good for Canmore and what our community really needs. They’ve expressed that sentiment in the past. I don’t think that’s changed in the ensuing years.

Tanya: No, and I think people need to understand that development is literally the business of a municipality in Alberta. There’s also a recognition that the industry, construction and development, brings jobs. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s definitely hardworking friends and neighbours of a lot of people in the community. Having that fulsome conversation is not just being pro or anti. In the middle is where we have to be as a community.

Rob: Where can people find those Area Structure Plans?

Tanya: The Three Sisters Mountain Village website. There is also a newsletter, and a podcast where there’s more information around the development process. For me, a frustrating thing is having conversations about development when not everyone understands the rules of the game. They’ve done a really good job of setting out a lot of that information.

Filed under: Canmore, Mountain Insider, Three Sisters Mountain Village