The application to transfer the Banff Pedestrian Area is considered valid

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A petition to overturn the City of Banff's decision to create an annual pedestrian zone on Banff Avenue was declared valid this week.

According to City Manager Kelly Gibson, the petition was submitted on March 1 by a community member responsible for gathering signatures.

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“City staff went through the process of reviewing all the signatures on the petition, looking for duplicate entries and noting any other non-compliance with the requirements of the Alberta Municipal Government Act,” Gibson said. Each entry is also verified by phone or email.

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The total number of collected signatures was 1114 people. 1019 of them were recognized as valid. Entries not counted are duplicate entries, illegible entries, or a valid street address was not listed.

Mayor Corry DiManno said the council will review the bill on May 13 and decide how to proceed.

“I will continue to respect the democratic process for the petition and respect the CAO's decision that it is a valid petition. And the residents who organized and signed the petition were fully heard through this process,” DiManno said.

Former Banff mayor and city councilor Leslie Taylor led the petition and previously told Postmedia that the pedestrian zone created traffic congestion for people living on residential streets.

“Our entire city is built around Banff Avenue, so all commercial traffic—trucks, buses, visitor vehicles—is directed onto narrow residential streets. We're going to close our main artery and divert that traffic to a different location, to roads that aren't meant for it,” he said.

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The decision will be made on May 13

The council must pass first reading within 30 days of the May 13 council meeting.

“As the pedestrian zone will open the weekend after the May long weekend, the council could decide to go to second or third reading on the 13th, which would overturn the decision and there would be no pedestrian zone – or they could go to a voters' vote, which is a mandatory vote. , and then they have 90 days,” Gibson said.

This is a specific law that excludes pedestrian zones; if it passes, the pedestrian zone will still exist until a final decision is made.

The city used the 2017 census of 8,865 people to calculate the minimum 10 percent signature needed for the petition, which is 887 signatures.

“If it is approved by the voters, it is mandatory for three years; if the council decides to revoke it is not a binding decision so they can reconsider it. I'm not sure if they will, but if the decision is overturned, it can be reconsidered,” Gibson said.

The annual pedestrian zone usually runs from May weekend through Thanksgiving weekend.

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