SBAB Blog.

Many thanks to the Crag for permission to reprint the article below.

Banff Crag & Canyon
© Copyright 2008, Sun Media Corporation

Debate erupts at small biz meeting
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

BY KEVIN DUNCAN

A last ditch effort to attract more members by the Small Business
Association of Banff turned into a debate with Town of Banff and tourism
representatives.

The meeting was supposed to be a discussion about the Banff Refreshing
project and the plan to close down areas of Banff Avenue to vehicle traffic
on a part-time basis.

In the end it turned into an open forum for concerns about how businesses
would be affected by parking problems — and when and for what reason should
Banff Avenue be closed.

“It never surprises me. That’s the one thing about small business; you hear
it on a very personal level. When they are impacted they like to speak
outright. It wasn’t the point of the meeting but the passion is always good
to see,” said SBAB chair Rob Seeley.

Banff’s parking problem was fresh on the minds of business owners after the
busy Family Day Long weekend.

Several business owners said that they heard multiple complaints from
visitors about the lack of parking spaces.

Requests ranged from bringing back the discussion of building a parkade to
the fact that people shouldn’t have to pay for parking if they pay to get in
the park.

“The parking discussions are far from over,” said Robert Earl, town manager.

Earl said town council is looking at options researched by administration.

Some of these options include expanding the existing Beaver Street parking
lot by acquiring adjacent lots, using the Banff Community High School lot
during July and August, and turning Cascade Plaza into a long-term 12-hour
location while making the Bear Street parkade strictly three hours or less.

“Businesses on Banff Ave. are our best source of information. Do we have the
best possible solutions - no - but we are working on it,” Mayor John Stutz
said.

A common concern amongst the business owners on hand was that closing down
Banff Avenue to vehicle traffic on a part-time basis over the summer should
wait until a full year after construction is finalized.

This put Banff Lake Louise Tourism president and CEO Julie Canning on the
spot.

Canning said BLLT has two events planned for the summer that are “world
class,” and are just awaiting approval from Parks Canada.

“When we stop challenging each other we get lax,” Canning said. “In the past
we’ve been outpaced by our competition. We have absolutely not kept stride.
Now we are at a point where we have to make up ground. We need to be more
flexible and more agile.”

Canning referred to the debate as a positive one.

“What we are doing is having a discussion in our community about change. As
we go through and look at how we are going to improve we are going to have
to question what we are doing and how we are doing it. That’s always going
to be a lively discussion,” she said.

SBAB, which was created in 2001, currently has 30 members.

At one point its membership was as high as 80.

The purpose of last week’s meeting was a call to action to push membership
numbers up to 50.

An Annual General Meeting will be held on March 11 at Wild Bill’s to
determine the future of the SBAB.

“If we don’t have the 50 members we’ll make a motion to dissolve. I hope it
doesn’t come down to that,” said Seeley. “The meeting was a good starting
point. Now that it is known there is an interest we’ll take a look at
businesses and try to encourage them to join.”

You must be a paid member to have voting rights at the Annual General
Meeting.

Those interested can register, as sheets will be made available.

Fees for 2008 have been set at $100.

Three types of memberships are available: one for businesses with up to 50
employees, those with 51 to 200 employees, and associate memberships for
those not qualifying for regular membership upon board review and approval.

© Copyright 2008, Banff Crag & Canyon Unauthorized reproduction or Web
posting prohibited.