Fine levied against owners of a Banff home with 40+ occupants

The Town of Banff has won a court case against the property owners that at one point housed over 40 people. 

The house, located at 321 Squirrel Street, was shut down by AHS after discovering 42 beds inside, a clear violation of the health and safety code. The report filed by AHS highlighted the maximum occupancy for the house was 16.

The owners weren’t written up only for the number of occupants in the home but also for a long list of infractions, including a bed set up in the basement without a window, an accumulation of garbage and debris in the kitchen and washroom, and holes in the walls and floors.

The property owner pleaded guilty to a development occurring without a development permit and was fined $1,750 by a judge.

The town is aware of the housing problem in Banff but says “that shouldn’t come at the expense of safety and well-being of residents.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Banff is facing a crisis in housing, with a rental vacancy rate only slightly above 0%. A large part of the problem comes from a growing population without a change in the size of the town since 1990.

The town is looking at a number of solutions to tackle the problem.

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“Banff Town Council is also in the process of changing requirements for development to encourage more housing from the private sector, such as reducing parking requirements in housing development, reducing setbacks to maximize floor area dedicated to dwellings, looking at height possibilities, creating incentives for homeowners to create secondary rental suites in their property and a range of other measures to stimulate housing on our limited land base,” says Jason Darrah, the communications and marketing director with the Town of Banff.

He adds the town continues to support Parks Canada in ensuring people are only allowed to live in the town if they also work in Banff.