Jasper council is supportive in principle of modifying restrictions for contractors and residents seeking temporary spaces during the wildfire recovery.
Council’s committee of the whole directed administration at its Tuesday (Jan. 28) meeting to return with legislative changes as required to implement changes such as amendments to traffic safety and camping bylaws to assist in building housing
The move came after CAO Bill Given told council that the Jasper Recovery and Coordination Centre (JRCC) has been getting questions from residents and contractors trying to plan how to manage reconstruction.
“We have a number of prohibitions and limitations on how public lands are utilized within the municipality, and we also have limitations on things like camping inside the urban boundary, for obvious reasons,” Given said.
With the Jasper wildfire destroying roughly 30 per cent of the townsite last summer and delays in interim housing, Jasper has been struggling to house residents and the contractors necessary to rebuild the community.
“Administration is of the mind that there are likely ways to support reconstruction efforts by enabling residents [and] leaseholders to have a form of accommodation on their site once the debris has been removed and when the health and safety testing has come back,” Given said.
This would include trailers, modular homes and other temporary structures.
In addition, contractors working on large-scale projects are seeking on-site accommodations to house their workforce. They also want temporary laydown areas to place construction materials.
“With as many different sites as we have happening across the community all at once, administration is mindful of the need to coordinate that,” Given said.
Parks Canada has expressed general support for the initiative, according to administration’s report.
Waivers would only be granted for a fixed period and could apply only to recovery-related uses. Applicants would have to meet safety, environmental and operational conditions outlined in the JRCC framework. Allowable areas include privately leased land and public land such as parking lots or closed streets.
Although the initiative is expected to facilitate Jasper’s recovery, administration noted the need to manage public interest and potential pushback related to traffic, neighbourhood integration and public land-use compliance.
Coun. Scott Wilson said he was “apprehensive” about the initiative.
“I don’t want to erode the possibility of having a large-scale contractor camp, and if we’re approving in-town contractor accommodations, that may be the case,” Wilson said.
He also didn’t want to put any residents at risk or erode the possibility of having a large-scale laydown area outside of the townsite.
“I’d hate to see contractors camping in RVs dispersed throughout the community,” he said, adding it would be “a super-busy summer.”
Michael Fark, director of recovery, said these concerns were “top of mind” for the JRCC, which has put together a comprehensive application and screening process to mitigate these concerns.
Coun. Ralph Melnyk was supportive of the proposal and called it “thinking out of the box.”
“This summer, and this next year, is not business as usual, and I think we need to bend the rules and be as proactive as possible,” Melnyk said.
