From housing prices to the push for street performers, laws governing development and expansion are an inescapable and omnipresent part of life in Jasper. Looking at Land Use provides an in-depth exploration of how those laws impact the lives of the park鈥檚 citizens, business owners and government鈥攗ntangling the complexities of the issues and exploring what they mean for Jasper as it heads into the future.
Talk to almost any developer or business owner in town about trying to get things done in Jasper, and the term 鈥渕oving target鈥� will probably come up.
Because Jasper is a national park, all development here is strictly regulated and monitored by Parks Canada. Anyone wishing to undertake any significant project鈥攂e it home renovations or putting in a driveway鈥攏eeds to apply for a development permit from Parks.
But this often proves to be a time consuming and difficult process, and there鈥檚 a perception among many of Jasper鈥檚 contractors and developers that Parks is constantly reinterpreting the rules.
And they all have stories: materials that were approved for previous projects are suddenly no longer up to code, projects that get stalled for months after staff changes at Parks, tens of thousands of dollars in extra expenses after requests for extensive changes to building plans. The frustration is evident, and has left a lot of business owners unhappy.
Ken Kuzminski is a local contractor, and he said he is continuously delayed and frustrated by what he feels are constantly changing development regulations coming from Parks.
鈥淭he current regulations are up to interpretation. Depending on who鈥檚 implementing those rules鈥攊t鈥檚 their opinion. So it goes from an actual concrete, achievable goal, to something that鈥檚 up to interpretation and opinion. And that鈥檚 the tough part in projects鈥� just the delay,鈥� Kuzminski said.
The Town of Jasper Zoning Regulations laid out in the Canada National Parks Act are the legal underpinning for the rules governing development in Jasper. Those regulations dates back to 1968, and most (some might argue all) of the issues developers and business complain about stem from this fact.
Because the regulations are more than 40 years old, many of them are outdated. The park has changed significantly in those decades, and Dave Kriezenbeck, the acting realty and municipal services manager at Parks, said that Parks has written as many as seven drafts that propose updates to the legislation.
The problem is that the Canada National Parks Act needs to go through the federal parliament for any amendments. And Kriezenbeck said it鈥檚 incredibly difficult to get the federal government to take time to change something that will only impact Jasper.
Because change is unlikely to come from Ottawa, Kriezenbeck explained that Parks has been using a 2005 draft proposal鈥攚hich most people simply refer to as 鈥淒raft 5鈥濃�� to guide policy surrounding development in Jasper.
Parks uses Draft 5 because it was written after significant consultation with the community, which Kriezenbeck said makes it the best representation of the community鈥檚 wishes.
However, Draft 5, and any other policy Parks creates, is technically just policy, and not enshrined in law. While this rankles some business owners and developers, Kriezenbeck said Parks is well within its rights to use the policy as long as it is more specific than the regulations themselves, and doesn鈥檛 directly contradict the 1968 regulations.
鈥淎s long as the policies don鈥檛 contradict the base, we鈥檙e fine,鈥� he said.
And while Parks鈥� Draft 5 policies don鈥檛 contradict the base, it鈥檚 Parks鈥� interpretations of those policies that has given headaches to developers and business owners.
Socrates Korogonas grew up in Jasper, and as well as running a business in town, he has worked on development projects here. In an interview last month he talked at length about the difficulties he had trying to complete one specific project.
Korogonas was trying to build more housing in Jasper, and believed strongly that his development would make the town a better place. But the process of going back and forth with Parks to close the deal left him jaded and exhausted.
鈥淚f I could have gotten through the approval process for something I truly believed in and was excited about and thought was a true benefit to the community, yes I could have made some money,鈥� he said. But of course there was 鈥渕ore to it than just making money鈥攁nd Parks didn鈥檛 see that.鈥�
He said that Parks鈥� expectations 鈥渟eemed to be ever changing: what they鈥檙e going to allow and what they鈥檙e not going to allow.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also super frustrating for someone who wants to do something that they really believe in, and think is great, to have to jump through all these hurdles.鈥�
Kriezenbeck said it鈥檚 hard for him to comment on complaints like those put forward by Korogonas unless he has specific examples. But he did say that he feels Parks鈥� policies are pretty specific in their directions.
鈥淚 think the policy is pretty specific on things,鈥� Kriezenbeck said. 鈥淭hings can slip through, but that鈥檚 an oversight,鈥� not a reflection of the strength of Parks鈥� policy.
Also, said Kriezenbeck, all of the documents Parks uses to guide its decisions were created with significant input from the community, making them a reflection of the community鈥檚 wishes as well.
Korogonas was quick to point out that he doesn鈥檛 disagree in principle with Parks鈥� approach to development in Jasper, he just wishes they had more consistency.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure that Parks has Jasper鈥檚 best interest in mind鈥擨 never questioned that,鈥� he said. And most business owners and developers seem to agree on that.
However effectively Parks interprets its policies, Kriezenbeck said the organization recognizes that not having a solid legislative underpinning is a problem, but it鈥檚 one local Parks employees don鈥檛 have a lot of control over.
He explained that Parks is in the process of putting together a panel to discuss land use, planning and development issues, and will use the feedback it receives there to put together a new proposal for changes to the Canada National Parks Act.
The panel should be up and running sometime this month, but Kriezenbeck said it鈥檚 too early in the process to know what a finished proposal will look like. Like Parks鈥� previous proposals, when this one is finished it will have to be approved by the federal government before it becomes law.
Land use, planning and development is an issue outside of Jasper National Park, as well. While in Jasper development regulations have presented one set of benefits and challenges, elsewhere it鈥檚 a much different story. In the next installment of Looking at Land Use, the 51暗网 will look to Jasper鈥檚 neighbours to compare how different development regulations can drastically change a municipality.
聽Trevor Nichols
[email protected]
