July 1, 2020

The Jasper Community Housing Corporation is forging ahead with plans to create affordable staff housing units on Connaught Drive. 

And though the JCHC hasn’t yet finalized how the housing complex will be governed, and it remains to be seen where the project’s funding will come from, to help get the project “shovel ready,” the JCHC first requires a significant parking variance from Parks Canada. 

“We’re marching ahead with the project so we’re positioned to take advantage of any money that might appear,” said Mark Fercho, the chair of the JCHC. “We want to get the parking variance out of the way.”

On June 29, Parks Canada’s Planning and Development Advisory Committee convened to hear why the JCHC wants to reduce the required number of on-site parking stalls from 89 to 52. Fercho said the project is designed around a car-free lifestyle. In their application for the variance, the JCHC cites studies which show that affordable housing projects in compact, multi-use centres generate lower parking demands.

“It’s designed for the entry-level worker population for seasonal workers in Jasper, a lot of whom don’t drive cars,” Fercho said. 

Furthermore, without the variance, the project, to be located at Parcel GC next to the Petro Canada on Connaught Drive, would require “a massive sea of asphalt,” Fercho said, a feature unbefitting of Jasper’s character and one which would compromise the nearby bike path.

“The idea of having a large lot paved like a Walmart parking lot, I don’t think is fitting of a mountain town,” he said. 

While the JCHC seeks its parking variance, it is also seeking a builder. Companies which the JCHC has pre-qualified to compete for the job will attempt to win the bid by demonstrating how their design will best satisfy the JCHC’s statement of requirements.

“They’re going to give us a detailed design that will be construction-ready and show how much it will cost,” Fercho said. 

In the meantime, the JCHC will test the acceptance of the strategy with Jasper employers. The intent of the project is for units to be owned by local businesses, for whom staff housing is a perennial problem. 

“That’s the conversation that needs to happen next,” Fercho said. 

If the business community can agree in principle to the proposed governance model; if council agrees to access a $100,000 interest free loan from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation for seed funding; and if the pre-construction work such as soils-testing, site surveys and parking snafus can be ironed out, the JCHC should be able to have the project ready to build, with the hope that upstream funding from higher levels of government will become available. 

Fercho says in times of crisis, it’s not unusual for high-visibility projects to get support.

“We want to be positioned to take advantage of it so we don’t miss the bus,” he said. 

An update on the June 29, 2020 PDAC meeting can be found here

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com