Housing, transportation and civic pride are the top priorities for Council in 2014.
They adopted their top five priorities at their March 10 meeting. A Place to Call Home - appropriate and comfortable housing for all members of the community - is the first priority. Banff's success relies on a strong, healthy community of employees and their families, says Council, and housing is the essential ingredient to providing outstanding customer service expected in an international destination. The Town will focus on the recommendations of the community housing task force and work with partners in the private sector and other levels of government to facilitate new and redeveloped housing.
A Re-Affirmation of Words To Live By, a civic pride vision for residents developed in 2008, is also a priority, called We are Community. The Town will rekindle the conversation to encourage community members to lead by example: take care of each other and be courteous; keep Banff clean and litter-free; respect wildlife; protect the environment; celebrate and build on success.
The lack of parking for visitors downtown, which is impacting the town's economic prosperity, is the third priority. The Town’s priority is to continue to explore options to increase parking capacity, pilot programs that increase parking availability and improve parking stall turnover, and encourage residents and employees to commute more sustainably, by leaving their vehicles at home.
Adopting and implementing specific actions of the Economic Prosperity Strategy, currently under development, is the fourth priority, while the fifth is to implement the recommendations of the Transportation Master Plan, adopted in 2013. The Town will launch scramble crosswalks this spring on Banff Avenue's 100 and 200 blocks, and angle parking on Bow Avenue, for example.
Projects and programs related to the priorities are identified as such when presented to Council throughout the year, with each agenda showing progress on a workplan. For more information visit banff.ca/priorities.