Scott Hayes | [email protected]
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Parks Canada released its What We Heard report Tuesday after its public consultations earlier this year regarding Land Use Planning and Development in the Town of Jasper.
鈥淭here didn鈥檛 seem to be a strong motivation to immediately begin the process to amend the Canada National Parks Act too and then amend the Establishment Agreement for the Municipality to have responsibility for planning and development,鈥� said Daniel Mercer, Parks Canada鈥檚 land use planning services manager.
鈥淲hat we heard mostly from the 150 people that had participated was that we should be looking at some of these underlying issues first, and then using that as a springboard to move into governance change if it鈥檚 needed at that time.鈥�
In 2022, the municipality requested Parks Canada consider sharing responsibility for land use planning and development within the townsite鈥檚 boundaries.
Because any changes could potentially involve legislative amendments, Parks Canada invited all Canadians to offer their input through a variety of means including online and in-person consultations. Indigenous partners were also asked for their input.
Those consultations took place between March 6 and April 19.
Approximately 150 people responded to 17 questions. Their responses were compiled and then summarized for four categories.
For Improving Land Use Planning Service Delivery, the What We Heard Report indicated that the land use planning services currently delivered by Parks Canada needs significant improvements as residents and business owners find the process complicated and inconsistent.
For Presenting a Simple Governance Model, the report says that allowing two government bodies to be involved in delivering these services may unnecessarily complicate the process.
For Updating the Community Vision, the report says that Jasper has a unique 鈥淭own in the Park鈥� character that stands out among other municipalities in Canada and should be protected and preserved.
And for Balancing Tourism-Based Development and Local Services, the report says that finding a balance between services that cater to tourists and residents is important.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a longstanding desire from municipal council and I think in the community for there to be more local influence in decision making with respect to land use planning and development matters,鈥� said Bill Given, chief administrative officer with the municipality.
鈥淭he engagement really asked people what their priorities were for the community. They didn鈥檛 present any alternate approaches to the delivery of land use planning or development approval processes, and so there wasn鈥檛 a lot for people to comment on.
鈥淭hat said, I think that it really does highlight some important goalposts and targets that the municipality and parks are obviously going to want to keep front and centre.鈥�
He said that the municipality is interested not in moving mountains, only in 鈥渕oving the needle鈥� with respect to the delivery of land use planning and development within the townsite.
Given said it will be everyone鈥檚 job to take this report and synthesize it with all of the other input that council receives from members of the public and business owners and move forward in a way that blends them into an 鈥渁chievable, rational and easily understood vision for how land use planning and development matters will work within the townsite.鈥�
Both Given and Mercer expressed that they appreciated the ability to work with either through this process and that they are looking forward to continuing discussions.
The next step is to conclude the administrative work including the working group that was established in December 2022. This will likely take place within the next month or two.
This step, Given said, will ideally result in a joint submission to the federal level.
Mercer added that the management plan indicates that work should begin toward adopting a new community plan by 2025.
